- The AI boom is facing a shortage of nearly 200,000 fiber-optic technicians.
- Fiber techs are specialized low-voltage technicians needed to install data center equipment.
- Meta is addressing the labor deficit with an entry-level training program.
The key to landing the hottest job in tech might be learning a traditional trade.
Data centers built for the AI boom desperately need skilled laborers to install and maintain cabling and computer equipment inside the wave of new facilities sweeping across the country. Meta is even launching a program to train them.
Often advertised as a fiber or data center technician role, the job requires the same fundamental skills and qualifications as a common trade school career path: the low-voltage technician.
Low-voltage techs install, maintain, and repair low-voltage electrical equipment, from security systems to audio-visual equipment.
They can also specialize in fiber optics, the ultra-thin cables that form the backbone of the internet and power artificial intelligence.
Nearly 200,000 additional fiber technicians will be needed to support the buildout of the AI economy, a 2024 report by the Fiber Broadband Association and Power & Communication Contractors Association found.
"If you look up what a low-voltage technician does, all they really do is pull cable," Cesar Ruiz, president and CEO of Learning Alliance Corporation, a workforce development organization, said, referring to cable and wiring installation. "The only difference is they're going to be pulling fiber inside of a building and hooking it up to racks and switches and routers."
Combined with the data center boom, an aging workforce and high retirement rates have worsened the low-voltage tech shortage.
Meta plans to train fiber technicians
Big Tech is already feeling the labor shortage.
Last week, Meta announced a plan to recruit and train thousands of workers to install the cabling and computer equipment inside its fast-growing data center fleet.
Its LevelUp Fiber Technician Pathway will be a free, four-week training program. Participants will have the opportunity to interview for jobs at Meta's data center construction sites, the company said.
"The demand for data center construction has never been higher, and the workforce needed to meet that demand simply doesn't exist yet," Meta's press release said.
Training programs like Meta's are similar to typical low-voltage certification and training programs, which can last from several weeks to a year when combined with apprenticeships, according to Ruiz.
Amazon has also previously sponsored fiber tech training programs in states where it has data centers, including Ohio and Virginia.
"They're just using the word 'fiber' because it's a sexy word," Ruiz said. "They're playing it as a true marketing strategy. I credit them for that."
It's not yet clear how many of the data center workers needed for the construction boom will be needed for permanent positions.
Ruiz said that a fiber tech job in data center construction could easily last up to two years, and then you could move on to the next site.
Once construction completes, operational data centers will likely need less than one-fourth of their fiber tech workforce to remain permanently for maintenance, he said.
