If you're staffing a Cheyenne data center build, the labor risk is simple: specialized trades will get tight before peak construction hits.
I see three clear takeaways from this market:
Here’s the short version: Cheyenne is not short on all construction labor. It is short on the people who keep high-power, high-cooling, and controls-heavy projects moving. That includes superintendents, MEP coordinators, commissioning managers, controls techs, and high-voltage electricians. And with U.S. data center construction spending near $80 billion in 2025, plus more than 50% of operators reporting hiring trouble, this pressure is not isolated.
For you, that means schedule risk shows up early. Hiring costs can climb, reposting can drag on, and some roles may need a regional or traveling search. Large Cheyenne projects are also expected to peak at about 700 workers in Phase I, which can push demand past what the local market can supply.
A few points matter most before you build your plan:
Pay is part of the answer, but not all of it. In this market, some construction manager roles are already listed at $150,000 to $209,000 a year, and top commissioning and field leadership roles can go higher. Even so, money alone will not fix a thin supply of proven mission-critical talent.
If I were planning a Cheyenne project today, I would lock in leadership first, build a regional recruiting lane early, and line up traveling labor before the MEP curve starts to spike. That is the clearest path to holding the schedule together.
The rest of the article explains where labor demand will hit first, which roles are hardest to fill, and how to staff ahead of the crunch.
Cheyenne’s secondary-market pipeline pulls from a smaller labor pool, and that pool is less specialized. At the same time, AI campus builds keep skilled trades on site longer because they need power, cooling, and controls work. So the staffing curve looks different from a one-and-done build.
Hyperscale campuses in Cheyenne usually involve multiple buildings with overlapping, MEP-heavy phases. That keeps electricians, HVAC technicians, and electrical engineers in demand at the same time, often across long stretches of the project.
That project mix runs straight into a small local labor pool. The main bottleneck isn’t general construction headcount. It’s specialized labor.
These projects need people with the right certifications and mission-critical experience, and thin pipelines can slow delivery [1]. When that happens, employers tend to repost roles and expand the search radius. That drives recruiting costs higher. Cost per application can top $60, compared with under $10 in major metros [1].
Those labor pressures shape which roles peak first across preconstruction, core and shell, and commissioning.
Cheyenne Data Center Construction: Workforce Demand by Project Phase
Cheyenne staffing ramps up in waves, not in one big surge. That means hiring pressure changes as the project moves from planning to buildout to day-to-day operations.
| Lifecycle Stage | Priority Roles | Staffing Level | Local vs. Traveling Labor | Typical Duration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Preconstruction | Owners' Representatives, Project Managers, Estimators, Schedulers, Permitting Support | Low | Mostly local/regional | 6–12 months |
| Core & Shell | Civil Crews, Concrete Teams, Steel Trades, Superintendents, Safety Managers | Moderate | High local | 9–15 months |
| MEP Fit-out | Electricians, HVAC Technicians, Pipefitters, Low-Voltage/Fiber Technicians, BIM Coordinators | Peak | High traveling labor | 12–18 months |
| Commissioning | Commissioning Managers, QA/QC Leaders, Controls Specialists, Test & Balance Technicians | Moderate | Mostly traveling labor | 4–8 months |
| Turnover and Operations | Facility Managers, Data Center Technicians, Maintenance Engineers, Security | Low | Local permanent staff | Indefinite (post-build) |
The early stage runs lean on headcount, but the people involved carry a lot of weight. Project managers, estimators, schedulers, and permitting support shape the delivery plan before construction starts. In most cases, these roles come from the local or regional market.
After that, the job changes fast. Once ground breaks, civil crews, concrete teams, and steel trades move to the front of the line. This is the point where local labor usually has its biggest presence on site.
The MEP fit-out phase is where labor demand hits its high point. Electricians, HVAC technicians, pipefitters, and low-voltage specialists account for the biggest share of headcount. As system complexity grows, BIM coordinators and MEP coordinators also become a must-have. If staffing falls short here, energization and turnover can slip.
After the MEP push, the problem changes. It’s no longer mostly about sheer volume. It becomes a search for people with narrow, hard-to-find skills. Commissioning comes next and relies on specialists who test and verify power and cooling systems before go-live. The total headcount is smaller, but the bar for skill is much higher.
The final labor shift has less to do with build speed and more to do with who stays after the project is handed over. After turnover, labor shifts from temporary trades to permanent operations staff [2].
As MEP and commissioning work picks up, the hiring problem changes. It becomes less about filling a lot of seats and more about finding people with the right background. In Cheyenne, the toughest hires are the roles that keep mission-critical projects moving: superintendents, MEP coordinators, commissioning managers, controls technicians, and high-voltage electricians. These are not skills people usually pick up on standard office or retail jobs, and workers in these trades don’t shift from one market to another all that easily.
The shortage runs deeper than a short-term staffing gap. In a secondary market like Cheyenne, firms often have to recruit across the region and offer per diems plus travel incentives to bring in hard-to-find talent.
The pressure shows up first in leadership and planning. The hardest roles to fill are the ones tied to preconstruction planning, MEP execution, and commissioning closeout: specialized superintendents, MEP coordinators, BIM leaders, and commissioning managers. These jobs call for experience with phased turnover, critical-path control, and high-density coordination on active data center builds. That mix is rare, so employers need to secure these hires early in the project lifecycle.
Commissioning is the tightest part of the labor market. As Tony Qorri, Vice President of Construction at DataBank, said:
"The industry simply does not have enough qualified workers to meet demand." [3]
This shortage is structural. About 20,000 union electricians are expected to retire each year, and apprenticeship programs are struggling to replace them fast enough. Cheyenne also has to compete with higher-wage markets, where electricians can earn $120,000 or more per year [3].
Commissioning managers are in especially short supply because this kind of know-how can’t be rushed. Every electrical and cooling system has to be verified before handover. If commissioning slips on a typical 60-megawatt facility, the cost can reach about $14.2 million per month [3]. That’s the kind of delay no owner wants to carry.
| Role | Required Mission-Critical Experience | Regional Talent Availability | Est. Annual Compensation (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioning Manager | High (5–10+ years) | Very Low | $160,000–$210,000+ |
| Project Superintendent | High (Phased Turnover) | Low | $140,000–$190,000 |
| MEP Coordinator | High (BIM/High-Density) | Low | $130,000–$175,000 |
| Specialized Electrician | Medium-High (High-Voltage) | Critical Shortage | $110,000–$140,000 |
| Controls/BAS Technician | High (Liquid Cooling/AI) | Very Low | $100,000–$135,000 |
Pay matters. But money alone doesn’t fix the problem. The bigger issue is the small pool of proven mission-critical talent. That’s why hiring needs to begin before demand hits its peak.
Major Cheyenne campuses will need thousands of skilled workers over several years, so recruiting has to begin before permits are finalized. Microsoft's Cheyenne expansion and Related Digital's 302 MW campus are both expected to peak at about 700 construction workers during Phase I alone.[6][12]
That puts pressure on timing fast. You should start hiring project executives, superintendents, schedulers, MEP leads, and commissioning managers 6 to 12 months before peak field activity.[4][5][6][7] If you wait until crews are already ramping up, you're late.
Pay also has to match the market you're in. This isn't general Wyoming construction hiring. It's a mission-critical build market, and the comp package needs to reflect that. Data center construction manager roles in Cheyenne are already posting at $150,000 to $209,000 per year.[9] Base salary matters, but so do the details that get someone to say yes:
Those extras can make the difference between interest and an accepted offer, especially with experienced travelers.
Local training will help, but it won't fill peak demand on its own. The LCCC Datacenter Academy and Wyoming's pre-hire training grants are building a local pipeline for data center construction and operations.[8][10] That's a good start. But when hiring hits its busiest stretch, you'll still need to recruit across Colorado's Front Range, Nebraska, South Dakota, and nearby states.[11][13]
A smart move here is to go after workers as large nearby projects start winding down. That's often when experienced people are most open to a move. Cheyenne also has a strong pitch: multi-year project continuity. For many travelers, that kind of steady runway is more appealing than hopping from one short job to the next.
When a role is tied directly to the schedule, recruiting stops being just a hiring task. It becomes part of project execution. Use iRecruit.co to source and screen project managers, superintendents, schedulers, MEP leaders, and commissioning managers when the local talent pool starts to thin out.
Cheyenne projects need early hiring, regional reach, and market-based pay to protect schedule certainty.
Cheyenne is short on mission-critical labor because data center construction calls for highly specialized skills, and those skills are hard to find in secondary markets. In many cases, only about 15% of applicants meet the technical requirements. And in smaller local labor pools, that kind of hands-on experience often just isn’t there.
The squeeze gets worse because the skilled-trades shortage isn’t just local - it’s happening across the country. Add in retirements and competition from semiconductor and energy projects, and the labor market gets tight fast. For firms trying to staff these builds, that often means bringing in talent from outside the area, which drives up costs and adds more delay risk.
In Cheyenne’s growing market, data center hiring needs to start well before construction begins. The smart move is to lock in your owner-side team and key management roles during conceptual design and preconstruction. That includes the Owner’s Representative, Project Executive, and Commissioning Manager.
For specialized trade talent and commissioning experts, it helps to spot skill gaps early and start recruiting 6 to 12 months ahead. In a market like Cheyenne, that kind of lead time can help reduce local labor shortages and avoid schedule delays.
The hardest roles to fill during MEP and commissioning are usually commissioning agents, senior MEP engineers, and skilled mechanical and electrical technicians.
Why are these roles so tough to hire for? Simple: they demand years of mission-critical experience with complex power, cooling, and redundancy systems. That kind of background isn't easy to find, so the pool of qualified candidates stays small.
In markets like Cheyenne, companies often have to bring in talent from outside the area.
