# The Data Center Draft: What Texas Contractors Are Up Against > You don’t have to build a data center to lose a crew to one. Texas survey data on wage pressure, turnover, and what firms outside the boom can do about it. - Canonical: https://praxagency.com/blog/texas-data-center-construction-labor - Author: Prax Agency - Published: 2026-11-01 - Updated: 2026-11-01 - Topic: Texas Market ## The short version - In AGC’s Texas sample, 30% of firms did data center work in the past year, and 38% of firms named competition from those projects as a reason they struggle to hire. - Texas firms reported harder hiring than the national sample: 68% say craft roles are harder to fill than a year ago, against 50% nationally. - The Texas sample is small, 70 firms, so read it as direction rather than a precise measure. The direction is consistent with national data. You can run a tilt-wall shop in Fort Worth, never bid a data center in your life, and still lose your best electrician to one. That’s the part of the boom that doesn’t make the groundbreaking photos. A campus doesn’t have to be your project to set your wages. ## Texas is hiring, unevenly Start with the headline numbers. [AGC’s analysis of federal data](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/State%20Empl%202026__September_Alpha.pdf) shows Texas construction employment at 921,600 in September 2026, up 15,000 from a year earlier, the fourth-largest gain of any state. It also shows the state shed 2,400 of those jobs from August to September, so this isn’t a straight line up. The metro picture shows where the pressure sits. Nationally, only half of metro areas gained construction jobs over that year, and [Houston added more than any of them](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/Files/Communications/Metro_Empl_2026_September_alpha.pdf). | Texas metro | Sept. 2025 | Sept. 2026 | Change | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands | 255,500 | 269,300 | +13,800 (5%) | | Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington* | 267,000 | 274,600 | +7,600 (3%) | | Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos* | 93,900 | 98,100 | +4,200 (4%) | | Midland* | 42,200 | 44,100 | +1,900 (5%) | | San Antonio-New Braunfels | 68,900 | 70,300 | +1,400 (2%) | | Corpus Christi* | 27,700 | 26,200 | -1,500 (-5%) | *Federal data for these metros combines mining, logging, and construction. ## What does the Texas survey say? AGC and NCCER also published a [Texas breakout of their 2026 Workforce Survey](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf). A caution before the numbers: it reflects 70 Texas firms, and some questions drew far fewer. Treat it as a signal, not a census. The first thing it shows is a state moving against the national mood: 41% of the Texas firms grew headcount by at least 5% over the past year and 23% shrank, nearly the reverse of the national split, where 34% grew and 37% shrank. **Hiring in Texas versus the national sample** National figures have more than 1,800 respondents. Texas has 70. | Measure | National | Texas | | --- | --- | --- | | Craft roles harder to fill than a year ago | 50% | 68% | | Salaried roles harder to fill than a year ago | 41% | 55% | | Project delays from worker shortages | 42% | 44% | | Raised craft pay by more than last year | 55% | 61% | | Raised salaried pay by more than last year | 53% | 58% | Source: [AGC and NCCER, 2026 Workforce Survey, national analysis and Texas results](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) Then there’s the count of unfilled seats. [In the Texas results](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf), 31% of firms reported 11 or more open craft positions on June 30, and 17% reported 11 or more open salaried positions. And 71% expect to add employees in the next 12 months. ## The draft works on firms that aren’t in it [Thirty percent of the Texas firms](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) did data center work in the past year. Yet 38% named competition for data center projects in their market as a reason they have trouble filling jobs. That gap suggests the draft at work: some of the firms feeling it may not be in the game. Nationally, [28% of firms](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf) did data center work, and among them the availability of workers or subcontractors was the most-cited challenge to pursuing or delivering those projects. AGC adds that the workforce effects are particularly pronounced among larger contractors and firms in infrastructure-related markets. Among the firms that reported on how those projects affected their workforce, the effects ran stronger [in Texas](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) than [nationally](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf). The Texas figure here rests on just 21 responses, so hold it loosely. **How data center projects affected the workforce** Share of firms reporting each effect. Texas: 21 responses. | Measure | National | Texas | | --- | --- | --- | | More competition for skilled workers | 58% | 71% | | More wage pressure | 49% | 67% | | Harder to fill open positions | 36% | 48% | | More turnover | 30% | 48% | Source: [AGC and NCCER, 2026 Workforce Survey, national analysis and Texas results](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) The scale explains why. [Texas Monthly reported in January](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/abilene-stargate-artificial-intelligence/) that roughly 6,000 workers were building the eight-building, 1,100-acre Stargate complex near Abilene, including trade workers from as far away as California and Maine. For a sense of scale, the metro’s entire [construction and mining payroll](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/Files/Communications/Metro_Empl_2026_September_alpha.pdf) is about 5,600, though the two counts aren’t measured the same way. Workers on that scale have to come from somewhere, and they have to live somewhere too. Abilene shows what that does locally. [KUT reported in August](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2026-08-12/abilene-tx-stargate-ai-data-center-economy-housing-crisis) that Abilene Christian University had more than 100 incoming students with no place to live. The university blamed a rental market where properties traditionally leased to students were being bought, repurposed, or converted into short-term housing. It’s a housing story, and it’s a labor story too: an electrician who moves to a campus for a year has left a crew somewhere else. ## Which trades and seats are under the most pressure? The Texas sample is thin at the level of individual trades, so we’d look at patterns, not decimals. [Every firm with openings](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) for electricians (11 firms) and for pipefitters and welders (9 firms) reported difficulty filling them. On the salaried side, difficulty ran at 80% for estimators (30 firms), 79% for superintendents (34 firms), and 75% for project managers (36 firms). One more pressure sits alongside the draft. [In Texas](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf), 45% of firms reported some effect from immigration enforcement over the past six months, against [about 29% nationally](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf). Nineteen percent said subcontractors lost workers, and 23% said workers left or failed to appear because of actual or rumored actions. ## If you’re not building data centers, compete on what they can’t offer You probably won’t outbid a hyperscale job for a traveling electrician. So don’t make that the contest. - **Sell the years after the campus.** Oracle representatives told [KUT](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2026-08-12/abilene-tx-stargate-ai-data-center-economy-housing-crisis) that the Abilene project created 9,000 construction jobs and should leave about 1,000 long-term ones. A steady backlog in one metro is a real offer to someone who’s thinking past the next per diem. - **Sell home by dinner.** Local work and a predictable schedule carry more weight once someone has kids or a mortgage. Say it out loud in the conversation, and mean it. - **Check your pay bands more than once a year.** With [61% of Texas firms](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) raising craft pay faster than last year, an annual review can leave you behind by the second quarter. - **Watch your subcontractors’ benches.** “Our workers or our subs’” is how [the survey](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf) frames delays, and it’s 44% in Texas. Your schedule is only as good as the labor your subs can keep. Ask about it before you award. - **Treat your people as recruits too.** The firms hiring from you are calling them now. A stay conversation costs less than a counteroffer. Finally, price it honestly. If wage pressure in your market is rising, bids built on last year’s labor assumptions are already wrong. ## What to watch next The Texas story for the next year comes down to whether large projects keep pulling faster than the pipeline can fill. Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth are large enough to absorb a lot of shock. Smaller metros near a single campus aren’t. Construction in Abilene is [slated to finish in 2027](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2026-08-12/abilene-tx-stargate-ai-data-center-economy-housing-crisis), and those crews won’t disappear when it does. They’ll move to the next job, and [ConstructConnect’s list from September 2025](https://news.constructconnect.com/data-centers-could-be-a-bright-star-in-texas-construction-for-2026-and-beyond) of Texas projects points to Data City near Laredo, HyperGrid near Amarillo, and nearly 20 more underway or planned in the Austin area alone. If you’re trying to read your own market, [we’re glad to compare notes](https://praxagency.com/hire). Alix is in Houston, and Jessica is in Dallas-Fort Worth. ## Common questions ### How do data centers affect Texas contractors who don’t build them? In AGC’s Texas sample of 70 firms, 30% did data center work in the past year, while 38% named competition from those projects as a reason they struggle to fill jobs. Among 21 Texas firms reporting on the effects, 71% saw more competition for skilled workers and 67% saw more wage pressure. Source: [AGC and NCCER, Texas results](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf). ### Which Texas metros added the most construction jobs? Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands added 13,800 construction jobs from September 2025 to September 2026, followed in Texas by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington at 7,600 and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos at 4,200. The Dallas and Austin figures combine mining, logging, and construction. Source: [AGC, from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/Files/Communications/Metro_Empl_2026_September_alpha.pdf). ### How can a contractor compete for workers without data center work? Compete on what a campus job can’t match: a steady local backlog, predictable schedules, and regular pay reviews. Oracle representatives told KUT the Abilene project created 9,000 construction jobs and should leave about 1,000 long-term ones, so the years after a campus are a real selling point. Source: [KUT News](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2026-08-12/abilene-tx-stargate-ai-data-center-economy-housing-crisis). ## Sources 1. [2026 Workforce Survey Results: Texas](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20AGC%20WFS%20TX2.pdf), Associated General Contractors of America and NCCER, September 2026. 2. [2026 Workforce Survey Analysis](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/2026%20Workforce%20Survey%20Analysis%20%284%29.pdf), Associated General Contractors of America and NCCER, September 2026. 3. [Metro Construction Employment, September 2025 to September 2026](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/Files/Communications/Metro_Empl_2026_September_alpha.pdf), Associated General Contractors of America, from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, October 2026. 4. [State Construction Employment, September 2026](https://www.agc.org/sites/default/files/users/user21902/State%20Empl%202026__September_Alpha.pdf), Associated General Contractors of America, from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, October 2026. 5. [In Abilene, Stargate AI Is Turning Horse Pastures Into Data Farms](https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/abilene-stargate-artificial-intelligence/), Texas Monthly, January 20, 2026. 6. [How the Stargate Data Center Project Has Impacted Abilene](https://www.kut.org/energy-environment/2026-08-12/abilene-tx-stargate-ai-data-center-economy-housing-crisis), KUT News, August 12, 2026. 7. [Data Centers Could Be a Bright Star in Texas Construction for 2026 and Beyond](https://news.constructconnect.com/data-centers-could-be-a-bright-star-in-texas-construction-for-2026-and-beyond), ConstructConnect, September 29, 2025. This article is general information, not legal, financial, or employment advice. Statistics are as published by their sources on the dates shown.