With its “America’s Workforce Academy,” Meta aims to create construction-ready career pathways for data center construction technicians. The program will launch in Louisiana, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas as the 2026 pilot states.
“The AI revolution is bringing change but also historic opportunities,” said Meta president and vice chair Dina Powell McCormick. “Skilled workers electrified rural America one pole at a time. They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American strength in this new age.”
The program is a $115 million investment in the next generation of construction professionals that includes a five-week training program and a job offer from contractors working on Meta projects at the conclusion of the program.
Meta is partnering with the National Urban League, Associated Builders and Contractors, and CBRE, alongside community partners that include the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, STRIVE, Boone County Economic Development Corp., Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce, Workforce Solutions Borderplex, and Ohio Chamber of Commerce.
“This new program is an innovative talent solution that is a critical part of addressing the construction industry’s ongoing workforce shortage and creates an accelerated, new-entrant strategy for jobseekers,” said ABC president and CEO Michael Bellaman.
Once an online application process is complete, scholarships, travel, housing, and stipends for living expenses are granted to qualified jobseekers. They will then participate in career-readiness and safety training, followed by five weeks of hands-on education, which includes core and craft training.
The academy partnership aims to:
- Establish scalable, repeatable workforce development models that align industry, training providers, and workforce systems to meet ongoing demand.
- Provide standardized, industry-aligned training that equips participants with the skills, safety knowledge, and jobsite readiness needed to contribute quickly and effectively.
- Prepare participants to meet industry and project-specific safety standards and contribute productively on the jobsite from the outset.
“The sustained demand for data center construction technicians means the industry needs an all-of-the-above approach to address this shortage and grow the construction talent pool,” Bellaman added.
