Verdant questions UK datacentre job claims
UK datacentres will create just 25% of jobs predicted by tech sector, analysis finds
Wednesday, 9 September 2026
Warm-up
- What comes to mind when you hear the word datacentre?
- Which new technologies do you think create many jobs? Why?
- Should governments invest in AI facilities? Why or why not?
Vocabulary
- thinktank
- an organisation that studies an issue and publishes research and advice
- projection
- a number that estimates what will happen in the future
- scepticism
- doubt about whether something is true or will work
- sovereignty
- a country’s independent control over key decisions and resources
- methodology
- the system a researcher uses to collect and analyse data
- capacity
- the maximum amount of power or resources something can use or hold
- infrastructure
- basic systems a country needs, such as roads, grids or datacentres
- intensive
- needing a lot of people or effort for each unit of output
Reading
UK datacentres will create far fewer jobs than the tech sector promised, according to new research by the environmental thinktank Verdant. It says planned sites are likely to employ about 10,400 workers, just 25% of the more than 40,000 in industry projections. The report lands amid public scepticism over the water and energy these facilities use.
Verdant based its analysis on staffing data from 20 projects and international comparisons. It estimates that existing sites have created fewer than 4,400 jobs, or about 8.6 jobs per megawatt of power, versus 43.7 in TechUK’s projection. It adds that much larger future sites will be less job‑intensive, perhaps 1.6 roles per megawatt. The study focuses on permanent roles, not temporary construction work.
The government rejected Verdant’s jobs‑per‑megawatt methodology, saying it ignores the wider value of compute and confuses electricity capacity with consumption. Labour has classified AI datacentres as critical national infrastructure to speed planning. Andy Burnham backed the sector by appointing AI minister Kanishka Narayan to his cabinet; Narayan has argued for rapid expansion on sovereignty grounds.
Comprehension
- Who produced the analysis that challenges the job numbers?
- How many direct jobs does Verdant predict for planned UK datacentres?
- What jobs-per-megawatt figure did Verdant find for existing sites?
- Which metric or method did the government reject?
- Which party named AI datacentres critical national infrastructure?
Grammar focus
Past perfect continuous
Use had been + verb‑ing to show an action that was continuing up to a past point (e.g. before, by the time, when). It describes an activity in progress before another past event. (Examples constructed.)
- Verdant **had been analysing** staffing data before the report.
- Local planners **had been planning** larger sites for months.
Grammar exercise
Complete each sentence using the past perfect continuous (had been + verb‑ing).
- Before Verdant released figures, researchers (study) ___ staffing.
- By then planners (design) ___ proposed datacentre sites.
- For months staff (monitor) ___ energy use at sites.
- Until the audit, engineers (assess) ___ energy needs.
- When the announcement came, the company (prepare) ___ details for press.
Discussion
- Are jobs the best way to judge large tech projects? Why or why not?
- Should the UK prioritise energy use or job creation in datacentres?
- Is jobs‑per‑megawatt a fair comparison across industries?
- How much weight should sovereignty have in tech planning?
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