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A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

nytimes.com

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Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#111

Post by 1970-01-01 »

j-bos wrote: post #96
1970-01-01 wrote: post #88

Carpenters? As in carrying around a framing hammer and nails? I'm not sure they have the right term here. I'm not familiar with these wooden datacenters.

This is generally the right term. Carpenters also refers to the guys who put up metal studs, doors and things of that nature. But they might be referring to the people who put up their framing for the concrete structures and molds.

A mason would be doing the concrete work. Metal studs and doors is usually done by the drywall and framer subcontractors - which could also be a carpenter - but drywall at datacenter or any commercial scale is almost always done by a framer and drywall specialist. They headline is using the wrong term.

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#112

Post by wslh »

Before reading the article, I assumed AI companies were recruiting electricians and carpenters to capture their expertise to train robots or AI models on how to plan an entire project from start to finish: "Guide me through building a complete house".

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#113

Post by heaney-555 »

willis936 wrote: post #17
kristov wrote: post #11

It's nice to hear tradespeople getting paid well with lots of work. I'm happy for them :-)

Yes, that's good. It also prices out a lot of other better uses for their labor. Projects I work on have seen prices soar. I don't consider building the things everyone hates because they promise concentration of wealth and an attack on labor at the expense of building literally anything else to be somehow a big W for labor because a few people get a slightly higher temporary paycheck. Ask the Wagyu cows how they fee…

>a lot of other better uses for their labor

Who on Earth are you to decide what is the "better" use for labor? And do you scrutinize every construction project or only AI?

Is it a waste when contractors build a temporary set for a trashy reality TV show? A factory that makes cosmetics for dogs?

Having someone the arbiter of what is the "right" use of labor is communism. In capitalism, people get to decide for themselves what they work on and what they buy.

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#114

Post by NichoPaolucci »

kvisner wrote: post #89

I would be very careful about basing your career decsions based on this trend. The data center build out will always be very boom and bust, which would really suck to work in. One year you would be making 300k working on dataceters and the next you would make 30k because thousands of electricians are now competing to build a few single family homes.

Doesn't that average out to 165K / year? That's not so bad IMO!

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#116

Post by Danox »

bluGill wrote: post #8
cynicalsecurity wrote: post #4

Before you decide to change jobs - the demand in electricians is caused by a temporary massive construction boom of data centers. Maintaining an already built data center doesn't require much personnel. It's a clickbait article.

If you get into any construction job you need to expect to move job sites regularly. If it is a single family house that might be as much as twice a day. If it is a large industrial site it might be every few years. However it is unusual to work at the same location for much longer. You are also subject to the economy more than most jobs. When things start going bad you are the first one cut. It can still be a good c…

It’s a good career if your unionize ie electrician, plumber, HVAC, fire protection, steel, concrete, and it also helps if you’re operating within the radius of a large city and all the suburbs around it, ie Santa Barbara to San Diego, Los Angeles to Palm Springs within that radius, very good opportunities, and very good living if your unionized.

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#117

Post by kasey_junk »

gib444 wrote: post #84
logicchains wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Meaning a big impact on homes – you know, the things people and families live in, in order to survive. Maybe those people should pay their tradespeople better then. Everybody's all "workers should be paid more" until they're the one paying the worker.

Everyone should just compete with the trillions of dollars of capital floating around for AI? And it's their fault for suddenly being 'poor'? Sounds like you're assuming people are paying pennies for labour. I don't think that's true at all While we're at it, how much should small bathroom, 2 week renovation cost? $100,000 in labour?

That small bathroom job is literally the worst case scenario for a tradesman. They have to work nearly as hard to line that up as better paying longer term commercial work.

The residential buyer is the source of much less repeat work, is harder to deal with, more price conscious and harder to collect from than the commercial buyer they could be working for.

Anyone that can competently market, manage, and execute that small job can do the same for better customers.

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#118

Post by barbazoo »

kvisner wrote: post #89

I would be very careful about basing your career decsions based on this trend. The data center build out will always be very boom and bust, which would really suck to work in. One year you would be making 300k working on dataceters and the next you would make 30k because thousands of electricians are now competing to build a few single family homes.

I feel like we're entering an age of electrification so having training/education in a field related to electrics/electronics seems like a reasonable path for someone to take.

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#119

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

barbazoo wrote: post #118
kvisner wrote: post #89

I would be very careful about basing your career decsions based on this trend. The data center build out will always be very boom and bust, which would really suck to work in. One year you would be making 300k working on dataceters and the next you would make 30k because thousands of electricians are now competing to build a few single family homes.

I feel like we're entering an age of electrification so having training/education in a field related to electrics/electronics seems like a reasonable path for someone to take.

I think that age started over 100 years ago.

Re: A.I. companies are recruiting electricians and carpenters by the thousands

#120

Post by HeyLaughingBoy »

hyperbovine wrote: post #72
willis936 wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, that's good. It also prices out a lot of other better uses for their labor. Projects I work on have seen prices soar. I don't consider building the things everyone hates because they promise concentration of wealth and an attack on labor at the expense of building literally anything else to be somehow a big W for labor because a few people get a slightly higher temporary paycheck. Ask the Wagyu cows how they fee…

tbf, I don't think Wagyu cows were that thrilled about their lot in life before Wagyu became a thing, either.

You may have a unique perspective on that, though...
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