Not Programmers! These Are the Most In-Demand Professions in the AI Era
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — Demand for new artificial intelligence (AI) data centres is surging. Major technology companies are investing billions of dollars to build dedicated facilities for this purpose.
Citing CNBC, cumulatively, four tech giants—Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon—have committed nearly US$700 billion in capital expenditure this year to fund the development.
Amazon announced last month that it is committing US$12 billion to build a new AI data centre in Louisiana, which will create 540 full-time jobs on site as well as 1,700 other roles for electricians, technicians, and security specialists.
Meta also invested US$27 billion last year in a joint venture with Blue Owl Capital to build the massive Hyperion data centre in Louisiana, which is expected to consume more electricity than the city of New Orleans.
Although concerns about AI replacing white-collar jobs have peaked, the data centre boom is creating lucrative opportunities for skilled workers.
“The digital revolution requires a massive physical foundation,” said Sander van’t Noordende, CEO of the world’s largest recruitment firm, Randstad, to CNBC, quoted on Sunday (22/3/2026).
Between 2022 and 2026, demand for robotics technicians rose by 107%, according to a global analysis of 50 million job postings released by Randstad on Wednesday. For cooling system engineers (HVAC), the growth was 67%, and job openings for industrial automation technicians grew by 51%.
Meanwhile, job openings for traditional skilled roles such as construction workers and electricians increased by 27%, according to the Randstad analysis.
Skill Shortages Drive Wages
Noordende from Randstad said that a “scarcity premium” is coming into play and that wages for HVAC engineers have risen by around 10% to 15% over the past four years.
“Because demand for AI infrastructure is outpacing the shrinking labour supply, wage growth is increasing significantly for these specialised roles,” said Noordende, adding that six-figure US$ salaries can be achieved in this sector.
Professionals in specialised and technical fields who move to high-level data centre roles often see salary increases of 25% to 30%, according to recruitment firm Kelly Services, which shared estimates with CNBC based on internal and third-party data. It was noted that premiums can vary depending on the role, and full salary data for data centre positions is still emerging.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, a central figure behind the AI data centre boom, predicted in January that “six-figure salaries” would soon become reality for workers building AI factories.
A key factor driving these wage increases is the shortage of skilled workers, with the US facing a potential shortage of 1.9 million manufacturing workers by 2033, according to 2025 data from the National Association of Manufacturers.
Meanwhile, the US-based trade group Associated Builders and Contractors estimates that nearly half a million new workers will be needed by 2027, up from 349,000 needed in 2026.
“[The skills shortage] is a big problem right now, and it’s only going to get worse,” said Gary Wojtaszek, CEO of Pure Data Centres, to CNBC.
To address the skills shortage, businesses and governments need to invest in training programmes, said Noordende from Randstad.
According to William Self, head of workforce strategy at global workforce consultancy Mercer, the skills shortage is also causing cross-industry poaching due to significant overlaps in the operational technical skills needed for energy, defence, and technology.
Earlier in March, BlackRock launched a US$100 million initiative to empower the next generation of skilled workers. This is because CEO Larry Fink emphasised that capital alone is not enough to realise the US$10 trillion investment needed for infrastructure.
“Skill profiles are evolving faster than traditional job descriptions can track,” said Self from Mercer in a virtual press conference on the topic.
Wages at Risk
However, the surge in demand for key AI infrastructure jobs also faces several hurdles, including an ageing demographic and geographic constraints.
Around 1 in 4 workers worldwide are approaching retirement age, and the talent pool is not being replenished quickly enough, according to Noordende.
“Unlike software developers who can often work remotely, skilled jobs have very low geographic mobility,” he said.
What will be hard to predict going forward is how much “risk pay” will be factored into salaries in the future, said Self from Mercer.
Earlier this month, an Amazon Web Services data centre in the United Arab Emirates was targeted in an Iranian drone attack. As conflicts in the Middle East develop, Self highlighted the psychological burden on those working in facilities that are hot targets or crime perpetrators, which could further increase the types of compensation packages we will see to attract this population to those centres.