Are There Enough Engineers for the AI Boom?

The AI data center construction boom continues unabated, with the demand for power in the United States potentially reaching 106 gigawatts by 2035, according to a December report from research and analysis company BloombergNEF. That’s a 36 percent jump from the company’s previous outlook, published just seven months earlier. But there are severe constraints in power availability, material, equipment, and—perhaps most significantly—a lack of engineers, technicians, and skilled craftsmen that could turn the data center boom into a bust.The power grid engineering workforce is currently shrinking, and data center operators are also hurting for trained electrical engineers. Laura Laltrello, the chief operating officer for Applied Digital, says demand has accelerated for civil, mechanical, and electrical engineers, as well as construction management and oversight positions in recent months. (Applied Digital is a data center developer and operator that is building two data center cam