This was an interesting read and made me wonder about the ethics of the selling point.
Is it ethically justifiable for tech companies to use "thousands of jobs" as a primary selling point to secure local tax breaks, knowing that 90% to 95% of those jobs will disappear in a few years?
Great breakdown. One thing that could change the ratio entirely: distributed “home data centers.” SPAN, with Nvidia and PulteGroup, is piloting GPU nodes on 100 new homes this year. They claim 8,000 homes can match a 100 MW data center in about six months, versus 3–5 years to build one, and they’re targeting roughly 1 GW by 2027. That’s the size of Meta’s El Paso campus. If that model scales, there’s no 4,000-worker build and no 300-person site staff. The jobs become installers and electricians spread across suburbs. That could make “how many jobs does a data center create?” much harder to answer.
This was an interesting read and made me wonder about the ethics of the selling point.
Is it ethically justifiable for tech companies to use "thousands of jobs" as a primary selling point to secure local tax breaks, knowing that 90% to 95% of those jobs will disappear in a few years?
You raise an important question, Elis. I would answer “no” unless the message clarified what jobs these are and how long they last.
Great breakdown. One thing that could change the ratio entirely: distributed “home data centers.” SPAN, with Nvidia and PulteGroup, is piloting GPU nodes on 100 new homes this year. They claim 8,000 homes can match a 100 MW data center in about six months, versus 3–5 years to build one, and they’re targeting roughly 1 GW by 2027. That’s the size of Meta’s El Paso campus. If that model scales, there’s no 4,000-worker build and no 300-person site staff. The jobs become installers and electricians spread across suburbs. That could make “how many jobs does a data center create?” much harder to answer.