If you are concerned about the future of your jobs, which are said to be taken over by AI, you shouldn’t worry. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has offered a pragmatic take on AI’s impact on employment, acknowledging that artificial intelligence could automate many coding and software engineering jobs. Simultaneously, the technology will unleash a massive wave of high-paying jobs in skilled trades like plumbing, electrical work, and construction.
Speaking in a conversation with BlackRock CEO Larry Fink at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Huang described the current AI-driven expansion as “the largest infrastructure buildout in human history.” He highlighted the surging demand for physical infrastructure — data centers, semiconductor fabrication plants, AI computing facilities, and supporting networks — requires vast numbers of tradeworkers.
AI to create a need for skilled labour
“It’s wonderful that the jobs are related to tradecraft, and we’re going to have plumbers and electricians and construction and steelworkers, network technicians, and people who install and fit out the equipment,” Huang said. He pointed to the United States as already experiencing a “significant boom” in these areas, with salaries nearly doubling in some cases. “We’re talking about six-figure salaries for people who are building chip factories or computer factories or AI factories,” he added, noting a “great shortage” of such skilled labour.
Huang highlighted that AI is not simply a job destroyer but a transformer. While generative AI tools like Claude and Gemini are raising anxiety among coders and knowledge workers by handling routine programming and data tasks, the broader AI economy demands massive real-world construction and maintenance. He stressed inclusivity, stating, “Everybody should be able to make a great living. You don’t need to have a PhD in computer science to do so.”
Creating a blue-collar boom
The Nvidia chief’s comments come amid ongoing debates about AI’s effect on white-collar professions. Earlier statements from Huang have encouraged people to embrace AI rather than fear it, once suggesting that “everybody’s a programmer now” thanks to natural language interfaces. But his latest remarks pivot to the physical side of the AI revolution. AI may reduce demand for traditional coding roles, yet the infrastructure powering that AI will rely heavily on hands-on trades.
Huang brushed off longer-term concerns, framing the shift as an opportunity for vocational skills to command premium pay. In the US and other markets fueling the AI surge, electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, and construction specialists are seeing wage increases driven by data center expansions and related projects. Nvidia itself has been a prime beneficiary of this trend, with its GPUs dominating the AI training and inference market and fueling explosive demand for energy-intensive facilities.
