AI jobs boom is here: How US hiring is rising across tech, construction and infrastructure

The much-feared AI-driven jobs apocalypse may be taking longer to materialise, with new data pointing instead to a surge in employment linked directly and indirectly to artificial intelligence. From engineers and software developers to electricians, plumbers and construction workers, the AI buildout is creating demand across both white-collar and blue-collar occupations.

Rafael Domenech, Head of Economic Analysis at BBVA Research and Professor of Economics at the University of Valencia, recently noted that the “jobs apocalypse is postponed” and that an AI jobs boom is here.

Data cited from The Economist and based on US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures shows a sharp increase in additional jobs associated with AI-related activity since 2024. The gains span technology occupations as well as the infrastructure required to build and operate AI systems.

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AI creates demand beyond software

The expansion is particularly visible in AI-related white-collar employment. The data tracks additional jobs in software development, maths and data science, information security analysis and engineering, alongside other computer occupations.

The number of such jobs has risen substantially since 2024, with the acceleration becoming especially pronounced in 2025 and 2026. Software developers account for an increasing share of the recent gains, while demand for data scientists, cybersecurity professionals and engineers has also strengthened.

This suggests that AI adoption is not simply replacing existing workers. It is also creating demand for people who can develop, deploy, secure and maintain increasingly complex AI systems.

Data centres trigger blue-collar hiring

Perhaps more significant is the impact beyond traditional technology jobs. AI requires enormous physical infrastructure, including data centres, power systems, cooling equipment and network infrastructure.

The Economist data shows a steep increase in AI-related infrastructure jobs since 2024. Electrical contractors, HVAC and plumbing workers, utility-system construction workers, commercial construction workers and electrical-equipment manufacturers have all benefited from the investment cycle.

The number of additional infrastructure jobs approached 300,000 by 2026 in the chart, underlining how AI investment is spilling into the broader economy.

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This creates a different picture from the conventional narrative that AI is primarily a threat to office workers. While automation can reduce demand for repetitive administrative, back-office and customer-service roles, the construction and operation of AI infrastructure is generating employment in occupations that cannot simply be automated away.

AI disruption is uneven

The data does not suggest that AI poses no threat to employment. Routine and repetitive roles remain vulnerable as companies deploy AI tools to automate tasks and improve productivity.

However, the emerging labour-market picture appears more nuanced. Job losses in some occupations can occur alongside job creation elsewhere, particularly as companies invest heavily in AI capabilities.

For workers, this could mean that the biggest shift is not necessarily the disappearance of work but a change in the skills employers demand.

As AI investment accelerates, the employment gains are increasingly extending from technology specialists to the physical workforce needed to build the infrastructure behind the technology—suggesting that, for now, the AI revolution is creating a jobs boom alongside disruption.

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