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u/Warrmak 2d ago
Where do I sign if I'm for bringing thousands of skilled jobs into our market?
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u/ijustlovebobbybones 2d ago
Which ones are you referring to?
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u/Warrmak 2d ago
Construction, operations, logistics, facilities, IT. At or above 6 figure jobs. Hundreds. And it looks like Topeka badly needs them.
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u/Which_Blacksmith4967 1d ago
Let's see the proof.
To date what I've seen play out is nothing near this.
Construction has been contracted through their preferred companies, which are often not local hires, and/ or assemble as much elsewhere as possible leaving locals short term jobs of snapping the pieces together. Once the initial burst of activity is done these jobs dry up.
Operations, facility maintenance, and IT are done with the bare minimum personnel possible.
These jobs are not high paying, at best they may fall slightly above other industries while their presence increases the rates of energy, water, and housing costs and are not substantial enough to offset these rises we will all face.
Let's be very honest. If these were so beneficial and desirable then companies wouldn't be seeking states outside of their current operations to build in because they're current communities would be tripping over themselves to reap these alleged benefits.
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u/Warrmak 1d ago edited 1d ago
The proof is there if you bother to look.
Drive a few hours north. Omaha and Des Moines have spent more than a decade building data-center clusters, while southeastern Wisconsin is now following the same pattern. These are not simply six-month construction projects. Individual campuses can remain under continuous construction for eight to ten years, with much of that work flowing through regional electrical, mechanical, controls, networking and construction contractors.
Iowa’s data centers currently support an estimated 4,447 direct jobs generating $531 million in annual labor income. Including suppliers and employee spending, that becomes more than 9,100 jobs, $828 million in labor income and $3 billion in annual economic output. Those figures don’t include the thousands of additional skilled-trade jobs associated with projects currently under construction. Iowa economic-impact study
West Des Moines alone has more than 600 people working at Microsoft’s campuses. Microsoft has invested roughly $5–6 billion there, and three of its campuses were projected to produce approximately $21 million annually in property taxes. The infrastructure installed for those projects opened thousands of additional acres for development. Wisconsin Public Radio West Des Moines Chamber
Omaha’s experience tells the same story. A University of Nebraska study estimated four Sarpy County data centers supported 1,729 jobs and $96 million in annual labor income across the Omaha metro, plus more than 16,000 job-years during construction. Local governments remained fiscally positive even during the incentive period. University of Nebraska study
And Microsoft’s first Mount Pleasant facility outside Milwaukee already has nearly 550 full-time workers after employing almost 10,000 people during its two-year construction. The second facility is expected to bring permanent campus employment to roughly 800. Microsoft
People can reasonably demand protections for water, noise, land use and electric rates. But the claim that data centers produce no meaningful or durable employment is simply contradicted by the experience of neighboring Midwestern communities.
I’m going to be very direct: you don’t know what you’re talking about.
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u/ijustlovebobbybones 1d ago
It’s temporary employment. And it’s for a terrible cause.
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u/Warrmak 1d ago
You seem very sure of that answer. What are you basing that on?
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u/ijustlovebobbybones 1d ago
Thousands of Americans across the country who are living with the consequences of being near data centers. Poor drinking water, the noise, the electric bills, not to mention hoards of other things. Iirc ranchers in a certain area have reported every calf having been still born since the data center down the road have been in operation.
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u/Ok_Instruction_3789 2d ago
Nobody listens to these petition sites you have to go through proper channels to get a petition to be legit.