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Overview
Ask how many jobs a data centre creates and you will get two very different answers, depending on whether you count the people who build it or the people who run it. In September 2026 that distinction turned into a public argument between a think tank, the industry body and the government. This guide sets out what each side actually claims, why the numbers are so far apart, and what the build-phase workforce means for the towns hosting the UK's new AI Growth Zones.
The short answer
A large data centre employs relatively few people once it is running and a great many while it is being built. Industry estimates for large hyperscale campuses put permanent staffing at roughly one to two people per megawatt of capacity, while the construction phase can bring hundreds, and on the biggest campuses thousands, of workers to a site for two to three years.
That is why both of these statements can be true at once:
- The QTS campus at Cambois in Northumberland is expected to support around 400 permanent operational jobs, according to a government freedom of information response quoted by Bricks & Bytes.
- The same scheme was announced alongside "more than 4,000" jobs, including 1,200 construction roles, when the North East AI Growth Zone was confirmed ().