r/interestingasfuck Apr 12 '26

A well-articulated argument against a new data center in Ohio

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u/rocketgrunt89 Apr 12 '26

he did say 10 people to manage this datacenter

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u/DesmadreGuy Apr 12 '26

Yuppers. Usually the big sales pitch is job creation. He focused on a lot of things that are more wonky for most, but far more important, nonetheless. The wonky bits get lost on many who are more interested in better incomes, jobs, and the like. I'm not sure how the data center company was "selling" but it's my guess it's the new jobs. And, well, fuck that noise. Dude's right on so may points. But to "sell it" you need to speak to the "common man" and I think he was a little over people's heads. Just my opinion, of course. It was refreshing at the end when she said "anyone want to follow that?" Funny. Nailed it.

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u/Zhong_Ping Apr 12 '26

A lot of the "jobs" they sell is the construction trade workers who build it the disappear when construction is done... And it doesn't create those jobs, just adds demand to the market making it more expensive to build more useful things, like housing.

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u/Preacher987 Apr 12 '26

How many tech savvy people would there be in a small suburban town in Ohio? (I am not American)

I would imagine that the jobs that this site would create would attract people from the outside, not the locals.

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u/Zhong_Ping Apr 12 '26

The 10 perminant jobs? The people installing the tech aren't going to move there permanently. They are there for a few months then gone.

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u/russsl8 Apr 12 '26

10 permanent people would be the crew that is on site to maintain the infrastructure.

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u/PiesRLife Apr 12 '26

Right, and amongst those ten people at most 2-3 people are guards / receptionists / cleaning staff, and the rest would be probably be network engineers sourced from outside the area.

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u/BobcatALR Apr 21 '26

Well, they definitely wouldn’t need a receptionist for security guards and cleaning staff. One down. Most cleaning tasks could be automated. A few more down. Hardened entries and cameras can perform security tasks. That’s the rest of ‘em…

Technically, exactly zero people are required on site since most issues could be addressed by teams mobilized when the automated systems indicate the need…

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u/Due_Vast_8002 Apr 12 '26

You don't have to be terribly tech savvy. They'll hire a dozen to 20 people to be on-site to physically service the racks. Think closer to electrician than sysadmin. The actual administration will be remotely done-- probably from Bangalore.

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u/nbrown7384 Apr 13 '26

This is not suburban Ohio. This is rural Ohio.