Data Centers Are Up 73%. Commercial Starts Just Fell 18%. Your Hiring Problem Didn't Go Away.

Data center construction just hit a record $85 billion a year, up 73% in twelve months.

In the same stretch, commercial construction starts fell 18% in September alone. Manufacturing starts fell 21%. Hotel starts dropped by almost half.

You'd think a slowdown that steep would make hiring easier for commercial GCs. It hasn't. We still see 10 to 15 new construction leadership jobs posted every day.

AGC's 2026 workforce survey explains part of it. 58% of contractors say data center projects have increased competition for workers. Nearly half feel pressure to raise wages. Data center jobs pay about 32% more than other construction work, so even firms that never bid a data center feel it in their sub pricing and their payroll.

But the bigger story is on the commercial side. 82% of contractors have salaried positions open right now. 75% of those hiring say superintendents are hard to find, and 74% say the same about project managers.

Last week I talked with a project manager who just finished his last job at a commercial GC. Good PM, strong reputation, projects up to $50 million. He isn't chasing data center money. He's leaving because there's nothing behind his last project. His company won't say the word layoffs, but everyone in the office can count.

That conversation is happening at a lot of commercial firms right now. The data centers aren't taking most of these people. The empty backlogs are setting them loose.

The national numbers say construction is booming. For many commercial GCs it's the slowest stretch in years, and for the ones with healthy backlogs it's the best candidate market in a long time. The PMs and supers who wouldn't take a call two years ago are taking calls now, because stability matters more to them than a bigger title.

The firms losing people are losing their steadiest ones first, the ones with options.

If your backlog is full, are you hiring the people your competitors can't keep busy, or waiting until the market makes it obvious?

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