A new analysis has put the UK’s data centre jobs promise under pressure. Environmental thinktank Verdant says the projects it examined would create about 10,400 direct permanent jobs, roughly a quarter of the 40,000 roles TechUK has forecast, according to IBTimes UK’s report published on September 9. The dispute matters because ministers have used the sector’s expected employment and investment to justify faster expansion while communities question the local return.
Verdant’s count cuts into the headline promise
Verdant examined 20 UK data centre projects with publicly available staffing information from planning applications, company accounts and press releases. It found that completed sites had created fewer than 4,400 direct jobs, or about 8.6 roles per megawatt of power capacity. Its broader estimate of 10,400 jobs includes the projects in its sample and the pipeline described in the analysis.
That is sharply below TechUK’s 2024 estimate of 43.7 jobs per megawatt and its forecast of about 40,200 additional directly employed operational jobs between 2025 and 2035. Verdant’s calculation excludes temporary construction work, which means the two sides are measuring a different mix of employment. The gap is still large enough to challenge how many permanent technology and facilities roles communities should expect.
Ministers and TechUK reject the comparison
The UK government has defended the wider economic case for building data centres. In its official announcement, ministers said the sector would be treated as Critical National Infrastructure and linked a proposed Hertfordshire project to 700 local jobs and 13,740 data and technology jobs across the country.
A government spokesperson told IBTimes that Verdant’s jobs per megawatt measure was misleading because it compares electricity capacity with actual consumption. TechUK said its own estimates use published methodology, industry data and standard economic impact assessment techniques. Those responses do not erase the disagreement, but they show why the final number depends on whether the debate counts only permanent site staff or also construction, suppliers and wider economic activity.
The next test is whether local plans deliver local work
For technology workers, the argument is less about whether data centres need people than about which jobs will exist and where. Large facilities require engineers, technicians, security staff and maintenance specialists, but their permanent headcount can be modest once a site is operating. That makes the quality and location of the jobs more important than a headline national total.
The dispute is also unresolved. Verdant warned that newer projects may be larger and less labour intensive, while ministers and TechUK say the infrastructure supports a broader digital economy. Until more projects publish comparable staffing data, the competing forecasts remain estimates rather than a settled count. The immediate question for communities weighing new sites is whether promised employment will arrive as permanent local work or mainly as a short construction surge.
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