Datacentres planned for the UK are likely to create only a quarter of the jobs predicted by the tech sector, according to new research from the environmental thinktank Verdant. The thinktank predicts that all currently planned datacentres will directly employ 10,400 workers.
This figure contrasts with projections from the industry lobby group TechUK, which estimated more than 40,000 jobs. Verdant's analysis, based on 20 projects, also suggests that existing datacentres have directly created fewer than 4,400 jobs.
Verdant's co-director, James Meadway, stated that the rapid pace of datacentre construction is being supported on "flimsy economic grounds." He highlighted the significant costs to local communities and climate ambitions, urging the government and industry to justify their use case.
The government has rejected Verdant's comparison of jobs per megawatt, questioning its methodology and arguing that it discounts the wider economic value of computing capacity. A government spokesperson also stated that a "pause" in construction would "send investment and good jobs abroad."
TechUK defended its estimates, stating they are based on a published methodology using industry data and economic impact assessment techniques. Labour has classified AI datacentres as critical national infrastructure to accelerate planning, with AI minister Kanishka Narayan advocating for increased datacentre capacity for national sovereignty.
Conversely, the Green party in England has called for a moratorium on datacentre construction, citing concerns over water and energy consumption and the lower-than-claimed job creation. Protests have also occurred in Scotland regarding the rapid development of large projects.