BlackRock Warns the $85T Construction Boom Could Be Derailed by Skilled Labor Shortages

The next tech boom may look more like a construction site. BlackRock estimates the world may need up to $85T in new infrastructure over the next 15 years, driven by AI data centers, onshoring, and aging roads and bridges. But building all that steel-and-concrete growth requires people — and the US may not have enough electricians, plumbers, and HVAC techs to keep pace.

• Infrastructure jobs are projected to grow 5% over the next decade, compared with\~3% job growth overall, and BlackRock warns even that understates how fast AI demand is accelerating.
• Roughly 70% of electrical industry supervisors are baby boomers nearing retirement, leaving fewer experienced leaders to train new workers just as demand surges.

Silver lining: The labor crunch could drive big wage gains and pull younger workers into trades without the college-debt price tag. NvidiaNVDA

CEO Jensen Huang says pay for workers building chip plants and AI facilities has nearly doubled, with many now earning six figures. To tackle the talent gap, companies like MicrosoftMSFT

are partnering with building trades unions to train electricians in AI-specific skills. But immigration crackdowns are already delaying projects, tightening the bottleneck just as the AI buildout accelerates.