Data center construction is increasing competition for skilled construction workers and adding wage pressure in markets where contractors are already struggling to fill positions, according to the 2026 AGC-NCCER Workforce Survey.
Twenty-eight percent of survey respondents said their firms performed data center construction during the previous 12 months. Among firms reporting workforce effects from data center projects, 58% said the projects increased competition for skilled workers.
Forty-nine percent reported increased wage pressure. AGC also found that 37% identified worker or subcontractor availability as their biggest challenge when pursuing or delivering data center projects.
The pressure comes during a broader construction labor shortage. Eighty-seven percent of respondents have hourly craft openings, and 88% of firms with those openings said the positions are as hard or harder to fill than one year ago.
Electricians are particularly difficult to recruit. ENR’s analysis found that 81% of firms seeking electricians are having difficulty filling those positions, making electricians the hardest craft occupation to hire in the survey.
Labor shortages delayed projects for 42% of respondents. Only 26% said they experienced no significant project delays during the previous year.
ACE Electric provides one example of the data center effect. The Georgia-based electrical contractor expanded into Columbus, Ohio, amid growing data center work. The company told ENR that labor availability can force it to decline projects, especially large hyperscale jobs requiring experienced field leadership.
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