November 5, 2025
Cloudy with a chance of job dust
Microsoft and Google overstate job creation at Chile data centers
Locals say the ‘job boom’ is a mirage while mega-servers guzzle power and water
TLDR: Chile’s filings show data centers create far fewer permanent jobs than officials and Microsoft promised, mostly in security and cleaning. Commenters slammed “jobs theater,” citing power and water costs and flimsy benefits, while a few defended better app performance; the drama matters as governments trade tax breaks for thin job gains.
Chile rolled out the red carpet for Big Tech, with President Gabriel Boric touting Microsoft’s plan for a whopping 81,000 jobs. But when reporters peeked behind the curtain, the vibe turned icy: filings for 17 data centers show just about 1,547 permanent roles — many in security and cleaning — and another 32 centers planned would add only 909. The community’s verdict? Jobs theater.
Commenters went full popcorn mode. bix6 blasted the tax breaks and “Hoovering” of water and electricity while locals “get nothing.” In New Zealand, brikym said they’ve seen the same movie with Amazon: big promises, tiny payrolls, sky-high power bills. One user joked these buildings look like “maximum-security prisons” for AI (artificial intelligence), while another claimed hyperscalers (the mega-cloud companies) bring short-term construction and long-term crickets.
A rare upbeat note: erikw cheered that local cloud zones could mean faster apps thanks to lower latency (less lag). The crowd shot back: cool ping, where are the paychecks? Microsoft confirmed its jumbo estimates and spotlighted training 330,000 Chileans and connecting 300,000 rural residents — which the comments dubbed “courses, not careers.” Between water vapor plumes and job vapor vibes, the internet declared: the only thing scaling is the spin. Read the full report for the receipts.
Key Points
- •Government permit filings for 17 Chilean data center projects since 2012 show a maximum of 1,547 full-time operations jobs, averaging about 90 per site.
- •President Gabriel Boric and Microsoft’s Fernando López Iervasi announced over 81,000 jobs from Microsoft’s hyperscale cluster, including 17,278 skilled IT roles.
- •Research by Paz Peña indicates 32 additional planned data centers would add only 909 permanent operations positions by 2028.
- •Microsoft confirmed its job estimates and reported training 330,000 Chileans in digital skills and connecting 300,000 rural residents to the internet.
- •Chile is pursuing a data center hub strategy leveraging renewable energy, attracting about $4.1 billion in foreign investments, with most sites in the Santiago region.