Meta has chosen Baton Rouge as one of four sites to launch workforce academies for artificial intelligence infrastructure training to supply skilled workers to staff the company’s data center network boom that includes its largest AI data center project in Richland Parish.
The company said it will provide free training, lodging, daily stipends and a guaranteed job offer from Meta contractors for those chosen for the fast-track training of four to five weeks.
“The AI revolution is bringing change, but also historic opportunities,” Meta President Dina Powell McCormick said in a news release. “Skilled workers electrified rural America one pole at a time. They manned the factories that built the arsenal that won World War II. Now a new generation will pour the foundations and lay the fiber that secures American strength in this new age.”
Those interested can apply to Meta’s America’s Workforce Academy here.
Meta is investing $115 million to fund the training at four pilot sites. The other three are in Columbus, Ohio, Houston and Indianapolis.
Meta needs skilled workers to build and operate its data centers like the $27 billion project underway in Richland Parish. Among the skills needed: fiber technicians; welders; plumbers; electricians; and other skilled trade workers.
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry praised the company’s continued investment in the state in a post on X.
“If America wants to win the AI race, we need a workforce that’s equipped,” Landry said. “We are building that workforce right here in Louisiana with @LouisianaWorks and @golctc. Thank you @Meta for believing in Louisiana and her people.”
The Richland Parish Chamber of Commerce is among those partnering with Meta to advance its workforce needs.
Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.
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