Meta's Louisiana Data Center Reshapes Local Work

Meta’s Hyperion data center is bringing thousands of construction workers to rural Richland Parish, while a nearby community college trains people for jobs connected to the project. The facility covers nearly 10 million square feet, and Meta says more than 7,500 trade workers will be on-site at peak construction. Once construction wraps up, Meta says the center will support 1,000 operational jobs.

Eric Crowe Jr., 27, is among the students eyeing that corporate-built job market. After handling packages and driving for FedEx, where he averaged $14 an hour, he enrolled in Louisiana Delta Community College’s Data Center Technician program. “Here, I could make about $25 to $30 per hour. It’s a no-brainer for lots of people to pivot,” he told Business Insider.

A New Route to Work

The four-week course costs nearly $3,700 and prepares students for jobs in the expanding data-center industry. The college offers it at its West Monroe and Winnsboro campuses. Students learn to operate equipment and follow workplace safety rules, and they can earn several certificates.

In September, nine students gathered around Fletch Batchelor, an instructor specializing in broadband, as he explained how to splice fiber-optic cables. They also practiced in a mock data center on campus. The training is hands-on. The job market is taking shape around Meta’s project and the wider growth of data centers.

Agriculture is a major industry in the region, which has no state minimum wage law. Dan McCarty, director of Workforce Trades at Louisiana Delta Community College, said the program prepares students with résumés and covers “every aspect of employability, safety, and technical skills.” The first class graduated in March, and IES Communications offered jobs to all 11 students. The company employs people working on Meta’s project.

McCarty said the program now produces about 24 graduates a month. “In the past, a lot of people, including myself, had to leave here to find the good jobs,” he said. “Now they’re 30 minutes down the road.”

The Pay—and the Price of Entry

The college’s training gives workers a path to jobs tied to a major corporate project, but students must first complete the course. The fee is nearly $3,700. McCarty said entry-level positions could pay as much as $24 an hour, while students who graduated told him they reached $27 to $28 an hour within six months. Those figures reflect reported outcomes, not a promise to every student.

Business Insider reported in August that median pay for data-center facility managers was $134,000, 64% higher than for other facilities managers. At data-center facilities, project managers earned a median $115,000, 12% higher than people in similar roles at other facilities. Those management salaries sit well above the hourly wages Crowe Jr. and another student hope to earn.

Trey Wadley, 30, has an automotive-industry background and wants to pursue cybersecurity. He came across the program while scrolling Facebook, which Meta owns, and hopes to work locally on Meta’s project. He recently welcomed a baby girl. Without the project, he said, he likely would have searched for jobs in Texas. Wadley is aiming for $25 to $30 an hour.

Jobs Beside the Disruption

Richland Parish residents have mixed feelings about the data center. Some say it will bring jobs and boost the local economy; others worry about environmental effects and disruptions to daily life. The opportunities and concerns sit side by side, as Meta’s project drives a major local change.

Crowe Jr. and Wadley said they understand residents’ concerns, but they don’t expect AI to disappear. “I think we should focus more on solutions to how we can coexist with it,” Wadley said.

John Bradley, a broadband workforce development instructor, said the training prepares graduates for contractors working specifically with Meta. “We have a special email that we give to different contractors we spoke with that are waiting for them to graduate our class,” he said. Bradley added that graduates don’t have to work for Meta: they can take their skills to banks and IT departments as data centers and similar construction work grow in popularity.

McCarty said students are waiting to enter the course, and the college hopes to expand its offerings. “We’ve got some that are fresh outta high school, but we’ve had students up to 60 years old,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter what age you decide to get into this trade. Anyone is welcome to come in and learn it.”