SAVILLS
Economic and employment multiplier effects Government enthusiasm partly reflects anticipated economic benefits beyond direct data centre employment. The sector creates ripple effects throughout the economy. AI-enabled industries will generate entirely new job categories and career opportunities.
Data centres also unlock regional development. Grid reinforcement and improved connectivity benefit surrounding areas. Residential and commercial development follows. The economic impact extends well beyond the construction phase into decades of operations.
“ It’ s not just the people who will be operating these data centres, it’ s the economic growth that will come from the new positions created,” Edmondson explains. Regional economic development strategies increasingly treat data centres as anchor infrastructure.
Marc draws parallels with education and research facilities. Both create foundations for future innovation. Data centres aren’ t the entire solution to economic challenges, but they’ re enabling infrastructure. You can’ t have an AI-driven economy without them.
What comes next With AI growing all the time, the demand for data centres is expected to continue to skyrocket well into the foreseeable future. Marc
90 January 2026