<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3Ep4eg_1CA53l6r00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3Ep4eg_1CA53l6r00" width="1763" height="1176" ><figcaption>A worker puts up a sign on the fence that surrounds the Meta data center construction site in Holly Ridge, La., Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (Photo by Sophia Germer, The Times-Picayune) STAFF PHOTO BY SOPHIA GERMER</figcaption></figure>Baton Rouge will host Meta’s first class of an artificial intelligence infrastructure training program, marking another sizeable investment from the tech giant in Louisiana.The company, which is investing billions in AI data centers across the country, including a massive project in Richland Parish, will launch America’s Workforce Academy in four U.S. cities to prepare workers for AI infrastructure and data center construction jobs. Meta is fully funding the program and will provide lodging and a daily stipend for participants, who will receive a guaranteed job offer with a Meta contractor after completing the four-to-five-week training program."The AI revolution is bringing change but also historic opportunities,” Dina Powell McCormick, president and vice-chairman of Meta, said in a release. “Skilled workers electrified rural America one pole at a time. They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American strength in this new age.”Other training locations include Houston, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio. The academy is in partnership with National Urban League, commercial real estate firm CBRE, Associated Builders and Contractors, Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce and local organizations in other training location cities.The academy is intended to address the shortage of AI infrastructure construction workers, who come from various skilled trades. Demand for robotics technicians, HVAC engineers and trades workers rose by double digits from 2022 to 2026, according to an analysis of more than 150 million job postings in that time period by consulting firm Randstad.The company is already investing more than $30 billion in the construction of AI data centers in Louisiana, Indiana, Texas and Oklahoma and the academy will bring an additional $115 million in investment across its four locations. The Richland Parish data center is expected to create 5,000 construction jobs and 500 operational jobs.The selection of Baton Rouge as the site of the academy’s first class is a sign of the lasting benefits of an investment from a company with a global reach like Meta, said Louisiana Economic Development Secretary Susan Bourgeois said. The city’s strong industrial contracting base helps too, she added.Though the training is prompted by the recent, large data center investments, the academy will have resounding impacts beyond the tech industry in Louisiana, she said.“At the end of the day, energy is the fundamental commodity that's driving anything right now,” Bourgeois said.Many industries have struggled with workforce development due to outmigration and filling open roles, prompting the state to pass bills to restructure workforce training programs and roll out initiatives to ease recruitment.“Now we have a whole system that is building itself, its infrastructure and more importantly, its funding mechanism around training for the jobs that both exist today and we know are coming,” she said.Meta isn’t the only giant funding skilled trades training. Investment firm BlackRock announced the launch of a $100 million Future Builders Initiative earlier this year that will connect workers with training opportunities, aiming to help 50,000 workers over the next five years. Microsoft partnered with North America’s Building Trades Unions to provide AI literacy courses to skilled trades workers to ensure those building AI infrastructure reap the technology’s benefits.Community colleges in the state have already stepped up to the plate to provide training for those looking to tap into the data center boom. Louisiana Delta Community College launched a four-week data center technician program earlier this year, thanks to a $250,000 rapid response fund from Louisiana Community and Technical College System.Louisiana Works projects the construction industry to employ more than 140,000 by 2032. There’s currently about 300 jobs posted for data center-related work, for roles like estimator, project manager, and thermal technician, according to a Louisiana Works dashboard.The skilled trades worker shortage existed in Louisiana prior to the data center boom, Louisiana Works Secretary Susie Schowen said, and Meta’s training academy will help close the gap by eliminating the financial cost for workers to participate. She hopes the program will serve as a model for other employers and industries.Recent Louisiana Works efforts to reorganize its workforce training and recruitment initiatives have prepared the agency to connect with the academy, she said.“The fact that Meta is committing this amount of funding to a program that is this ambitious gets everybody's attention and it really helps to solidify the fact that these jobs really are a massive opportunity right now,” Schowen said. “There's always a little bit of skepticism here and there when we're talking about sudden shifts in workforce demand but this really illustrates that it's real.”</div></body>

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Baton Rouge will host Meta’s first class of an artificial intelligence infrastructure training program, marking another sizeable investment from the tech giant in Louisiana. The company, which is investing billions in AI data centers across the country, including a massive project in Richland Parish, will launch America’s Workforce Academy in four U.S. cities to prepare workers for AI infrastructure and data center construction jobs. Meta is fully funding the program and will provide lodging and a daily stipend for participants, who will receive a guaranteed job offer with a Meta contractor after completing the four-to-five-week training program.

Meta to launch first AI infrastructure workforce training in Baton Rouge

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Baton Rouge will host Meta’s first class of an artificial intelligence infrastructure training program, marking another sizeable investment from the tech g

Meta to launch first AI infrastructure workforce training in Baton Rouge

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