America’s data center surge is turning into something bigger than a tech story. It is creating a wave of hands-on work that stretches from construction sites to factory floors, with electricians, welders, mechanics, technicians, and builders all suddenly in demand.
In Red Oak, Texas, Compass Datacenters has built a major campus that now serves as a live example of how digital infrastructure turns into real-world jobs. The site includes data center buildings, manufacturing space, and a training pipeline designed to feed the industry with workers who can keep the machines humming.
Chris Crosby, the company’s CEO, pushed back hard on the old idea that blue-collar work is somehow second-tier. He said the country went through a stretch when too many people were told that a four-year degree was the only respectable path, and that attitude left skilled trades undervalued for way too long.
“I am tired of the elitism that this doesn’t create jobs,” Crosby said, making the case that the work tied to data centers is very real and very large. At Compass’s Red Oak campus alone, 900 people work there, and thousands more have helped build it over the years.
The scope is hard to miss. The campus began taking shape in 2019 and now includes 10 data center buildings spread across about 2.6 million square feet, plus a Schneider Electric manufacturing facility and a technical college training program.
What makes the story stand out is how many different trades are needed just to keep one campus moving. Crosby pointed to electricians, mechanical contractors, builders, carpenters, welders, and concrete workers as part of the mix, saying the industry cannot get enough people into those roles.
That demand does not stop at the construction fence. Compass and its partners say they have created more than 7,000 permanent factory jobs nationwide, showing how the buildout of digital infrastructure ripples into manufacturing and long-term employment.
To help address the labor shortage, Compass teamed with Texas State Technical College on a $12.6 million training facility at the Red Oak campus. The goal is to give people a way in, especially those who may not have experience but do have the drive to learn a trade that pays off.
The company’s MEI Pathways program, which stands for Mechanical, Electrical and IT Pathways, was built around that idea. Crosby said the hardest part is often the first step, and the program is meant to break that barrier without making applicants jump through unnecessary hoops.
The training is open to anyone interested in the field, and it is not limited to future Compass employees. That broader approach matters because the need for skilled workers is not isolated to one company, one city, or one project, and the pace of expansion is only picking up.
Data centers also bring a local economic punch that goes beyond wages. Crosby argued that these facilities can deliver tax revenue and steady business activity to the communities that host them, which makes them more than just giant warehouses full of servers.
In places like Red Oak, the change is already visible in the scale of the workforce and the amount of material moving through the site. Rows of cables, cooling systems, and power equipment may not look glamorous, but they depend on people with practical skills and a willingness to work with their hands.
That is where the real momentum sits now. As the tech economy keeps expanding, the people building and maintaining its backbone are becoming harder to ignore, and the blue-collar side of the boom is starting to look like the main event.
