Now he logs 30,000 steps a day roaming the halls of a million-square-foot data center in the Virginia suburbs. ASHBURN, Va.—Growing up, James Waddy wanted to be a professional athlete.
In data-center-dense Virginia, Northern Virginia Community College launched a program for data-center work with help from the private sector. Waddy, a lead engineer at the center, oversees dozens of other engineers who do the same and calls himself “The General. “I don’t smell anything. Everything’s running right. Data centers are drawing intense scrutiny as Americans grow increasingly leery of AI and the technology’s potential risks . They’re also somewhat mysterious beyond their often boxy, nondescript exteriors: What’s inside, and what are workers doing? Waddy’s facility, owned by the data-center company Digital Realty, is filled with echoey hallways so long some technicians ride scooters to get around. There are towering cages filled with wires. There are also cots and showers for technicians who might hunker down during extreme weather to keep the servers running. Data-center employees are working an in-demand job powering the nation’s massive artificial-intelligence investment . Data centers don’t require large staffs —estimates range from a few dozen to a few hundred permanent employees to run one center, depending on the facility—but the huge scale of the nation’s build-out potentially translates to tens of thousands of workers. They include the nine-year-old facility where Waddy works, which sits in a dense cluster known as Data Center Alley about an hour outside of Washington, D.C. Major tech companies including Meta Platforms have invested in training skilled workforces to build the facilities. At centers like the one in Ashburn, Digital Realty leases space to major tech companies that need computing power. Its customers include Oracle, Meta and IBM. Digital Realty is also dealing with the increasingly intense public backlash against data-center construction. Locals have pushed back against the project, which is currently stuck in limbo. The Ashburn site includes a mix of white- and blue-collar workers. Among them are security guards, technicians who look after customers’ cable setups, supply-chain officers who source materials and engineers who monitor for problems. The roles are similar at other data centers around the country. The most important part of the job: Keep the centers running. Like many industry workers, Atkinson is grappling with the sudden shift in public opinion about a workplace where he landed a solid career. He also noted he doesn’t use much AI himself. “It’s a weird place right now. On a recent Thursday he was inside a black cage stuffed with yellow wires checking a cross-connect cable that links one customer’s operation to another’s. “I love this round. Write to Owen Tucker-Smith at [email protected]
The 33-year-old’s rounds include sniffing for burning equipment that could indicate overheating, feeling tubes for cracks and looking for faulty lighting or broken power transformers. Even with up to 120 people on site at a given time—the facility employs about 50, but contracted security staff and employees sent by customers also work there—the building’s massive size means many of its rooms were empty on a recent weekday. There are already roughly 2,700 operational data-center facilities in the U.S., according to industry data provider Data Center Map. Nearly 400 more are under construction nationwide while at least 1,500 are in the planning stage, Data Center Map estimated. More than a million job seekers have searched for data-center roles on the hiring website Indeed this year; in August, searches were up eightfold from early 2022. The job site’s research has found that for hourly employees tasked with maintenance and installation work, data centers offer a roughly 42% pay premium compared with similar jobs at other kinds of businesses. A project manager at a data center, according to Indeed, makes around $115,000. Digital Realty said entry-level engineers at its facilities can make roughly $66,000, while average pay can top $120,000 for people with more experience. The company operates more than 300 data centers on six continents. In Atlanta, the company has sought an exemption from a local ban on data centers near transit centers as it tries to build a $500 million center in the city. Digital Realty estimates its data centers are operational 99.999% of the time, but it now aims for 99.9999%. It sounds small, but that’s the difference between six minutes of outage a year and 30 seconds. Don Atkinson has worked at the company for around 14 years, following 17 years in the military and a job maintaining backup power systems. These days the 53-year-old has a managerial role, looking after younger engineers.
“I don’t hear any noises,” he said, pacing a raised floor above a chamber that circulates air to cool servers. Professionals with skills in electrical systems, network engineering and cooling systems are in high demand, said Brandi Galvin Morandi, chief people officer at data-center operator Equinix. “These are mission-critical facilities running around the clock, and that takes a specific mix of technical training, safety discipline, and hands-on experience which is in short supply relative to how fast the industry is growing,” said Cindy Fiedelman, Digital Realty’s chief human resources officer. A Digital Realty spokesman said that the project would create well-paying jobs and that it was “committed to getting there the right way” in partnership with the community. “We love America, we love the country, we love the industry and it’s just weird,” he said, regarding the public backlash. Another worker there, Malcolm Mosely, said his family sometimes brings up the politics of data centers, but he tries not to focus on it: “I just come here to do my job. “It’s nice up here,” Waddy said.
He started on the data center’s night shift, helping maintain machinery for customers across the world. He has since climbed the ranks. His daily rounds include checking the facility’s air-handler gallery, where massive air conditioners pump cool air into the rest of the data center. The data hall upstairs looks like a locker room, with servers stacked on top of each other in cabinets or cages companies can lease. There are no logos or company names, though, since competitors have operations running side-by-side. Earplugs are encouraged there to guard against the roaring sound from the servers when up close. On the roof, Waddy checks on hundreds of condensers arranged in neat rows to help cool the facility. He’s looking for any malfunctions or damage from birds who like to peck at equipment. The roof work comes with the view of a distant crane, which is helping to build a competitor’s data center.
Waddy, who has worked at the Ashburn plant for three years, has an associate degree in business and previously worked in sales at an HVAC company.
