BlackRock Inc. signed an agreement with organized labor designed to line up construction workers for new data centers and energy projects, the latest effort by big investors to emphasize jobs created rather than replaced by rapidly growing artificial intelligence technologies.
The money manager and its AI Infrastructure Partnership – a $30 billion joint venture with Microsoft Corp. and other big technology firms – will share details about specific upcoming projects with North America’s Building Trades Unions, which represents more than 3 million skilled trade workers, according to a statement announcing the memorandum of understanding Monday.
By working with NABTU on future hiring needs, BlackRock portfolio companies are more likely to have the workers needed to complete data center and energy projects, according to the statement. BlackRock and NABTU also cited the benefits of “responsible contractor programs,” criteria often used to secure fair wages and working conditions, as well as project labor agreements, sweeping contracts that can accelerate hiring for big construction projects.
“The infrastructure buildout required to drive innovation is creating a once-in-a-generation opportunity to invest in American workers,” BlackRock Chief Executive Officer Larry Fink said in the statement. The agreement “reflects a shared belief that investing in critical infrastructure can strengthen America’s competitiveness while creating jobs, expanding economic opportunity and, ultimately, help more Americans experience financial well-being.”
The announcement comes as data center projects face mounting opposition from communities concerned about the massive developments and broader societal worries about what the AI boom will mean for a swath of jobs and industries.
Over the last year, finance and technology companies have committed to job training initiatives that they say will help address the shortage of skilled workers needed to build data centers, as well as fears about the future employment prospects of millions of Americans. Meta Platforms Inc. committed $115 million initially to a workforce training program that guarantees a job for all graduates.
BlackRock in March announced a $100 million initiative to help train 50,000 Americans for skilled trade jobs, including plumbers and electricians, and joined with Ford Motor Co., Carhartt and Alphabet Inc. on another job training program.
Like other major Wall Street investors, BlackRock is moving aggressively to provide financing for artificial technology. The company struck a deal with Meta last month to build a data center in Texas that will cost about $14 billion. Late last year, Global Infrastructure Partners, alongside the AI Infrastructure Partnership and Abu Dhabi’s MGX, led the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers in a $40 billion deal.
Fink has said that AI will upend the workforce, warning in March that the technology threatens to exacerbate wealth inequality unless more individuals invest in the market and reap what he expects will be considerable financial gains.
