Can the United States Meet Skilled Trade Labor Demand Through 2030?

The GenAI infrastructure build-out presents a unique opportunity to create new pathways to durable middle-class jobs, but AI data centers will not be wired, commissioned, or inspected without skilled trades workers. 

1. The Skilled Trades Demand: CSIS estimates that the United States will need 140,000 electricians, HVAC pipefitters, heavy equipment operators, welders, and construction laborers by 2030.
2. Policy Constraint: The AI Action Plan tasks the Department of Labor with growing the United States’ AI workforce through skills programs, key job mapping, apprenticeships, and training. But CSIS finds far more is needed: Apprenticeships must expand 50 percent by 2030, backed by more instructors and financing.
3. Recommendation: The United States needs a National AI Infrastructure Workforce Consortium—modeled after Department of Energy’s Foundation for Energy Security and Innovation and National Science and Technology Council’s Workforce Center of Excellence—to marshal the nation's public and private resources to meet the labor challenge.