WSJ: US Data Center Roles Pay 42% Premium for Hourly Maintenance and Installation Workers, Indeed Finds

Owen Tucker-Smith's Sept 20 WSJ piece pulls Indeed Hiring Lab data showing US data center maintenance and installation roles pay about 42% more per hour than similar jobs at other businesses, with network technicians earning $32/hr versus $23/hr elsewhere. Facilities managers moving into data center work see roughly $50,000 median annual raises. The 10 largest tech firms by market cap account for 71% of 2026 data-center job postings, buoying labor demand as the AI build-out accelerates.