Planned data centres in the UK are projected to create a limited number of permanent jobs by 2035, according to research from the environmental think tank Verdant. Verdant estimates these facilities will support about 10,400 permanent roles.
The figure is substantially lower than the jobs numbers cited by the tech industry lobby group TechUK. TechUK’s forecasts suggest more than 40,000 jobs, while Verdant characterises its estimate as roughly a quarter of that level. The sources also link the lower employment projection with the scale of data centres’ energy demand, though they differ in emphasis on the jobs comparison.
Overall, the outlets present the same central dispute: whether the industry’s job projections for planned UK data centres are too high. Both sets of estimates refer to employment impacts tied to planned facilities through the mid-2030s, but they produce different totals for how many permanent jobs will be created.
