Blackstone Inc. president Jon Gray stated that the artificial intelligence boom will lead to a significant increase in blue-collar employment, as asset managers invest billions in data centers and related infrastructure.
AI Infrastructure Driving Job Growth
Gray highlighted that QTS, a data-center operator backed by Blackstone, expects to have 40,000 people working on job sites across the United States by the end of the year, a substantial rise from 10,000 just one year earlier. He made these remarks during a panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference.
"This is a huge boom in blue collar employment, certainly over the next five years," Gray said. "Where these jobs are, it may change — the middle of the country is where the bulk of this physical investment is happening."
Addressing Job Displacement Fears
Gray's comments come amid concerns that AI could replace many jobs. A report from Boston Consulting Group indicated that AI might eliminate up to 15% of jobs in the next five years, though it noted that a larger share of roles will be reshaped rather than replaced.
Franklin Resources Inc. chief executive Jenny Johnson also spoke on the panel, suggesting that new jobs could emerge as more people learn to use AI tools and discover novel applications.
"None of us are that good at using these tools yet," Johnson said. "Once you get those tools in people's hands, we're going to find there's massive more things that we never understood we needed that we're suddenly not going to live without."
The rapid build-out of AI infrastructure has sparked debate about the technology's impact on employment, but Gray and other executives see opportunities for blue-collar workers in construction, operations, and maintenance of AI facilities.
