New analysis from environmental thinktank Verdant suggests UK datacentres will directly create far fewer jobs than the technology industry has claimed, even as they consume vast amounts of energy. The thinktank estimates all currently planned datacentres will employ around 10,400 workers, compared with the more than 40,000 projected by industry lobby group TechUK, raising questions about the economic justification for the government's rapid rollout of the sector amid growing public concern over its water and energy demands.

Verdant's findings, based on 20 projects with publicly available staffing data plus international comparisons, show existing UK datacentres have created fewer than 4,400 jobs so far, equivalent to about 8.6 jobs per megawatt of energy used, far below TechUK's claimed 43.7 jobs per megawatt. It warns future, larger-scale projects could be even less job-intensive, generating as few as 1.6 permanent roles per megawatt, compared with roughly 400 jobs per megawatt at a car plant and over 3,600 at a hospital. The government rejected the comparison and disputed Verdant's methodology, while ministers including AI minister Kanishka Narayan continue to champion datacentres on national security and sovereignty grounds; the Green party has called for a moratorium, and protests have taken place in Scotland over the pace of development.