Today, we are on electronic devices virtually every waking moment, from smartphones to tablet computers to desktop computers. Our televisions, most of them now smart TVs, can stream our desired shows in the background all the time. At work, we generate countless digital documents and other outputs, ranging from graphics to videos to webpages. Emails and text messages fly to and from us at lightning speed. Where do we store all of our digital creations and information? On servers and computer storage devices in data centers. For a fee, consumers and businesses can store huge volumes of digital information about everything from taxes to consumer surveys and purchase orders.
Our collective demand for digital storage has led to expanded operations for computer hardware companies that make electrical equipment and servers. While demand for traditional office equipment like filing cabinets has declined, we need more workers helping to build our electric infrastructure to handle computers, data servers, and Internet processing. Power and Data Management, LLC (PDM) is one of the companies capitalizing on this growing demand for computing power. The company, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is opening a new manufacturing center outside of Salt Lake City, Utah, to increase its production of industrial-grade transformers and circuit breakers for data centers and utility companies.
Internet Use Requires Hardware Behind the Scenes
Many Americans may think the tech industry is all about working on a computer, but it also includes making computers and related hardware. Thus, a growing tech industry also affects American manufacturing by increasing the demand for computer and electrical equipment, especially transformers and circuit breakers. Large servers that hold millions of customers’ data cannot simply be plugged into a wall outlet the way a laptop is. This heavy equipment uses a lot of electricity, requiring specialized infrastructure.
Similarly, the growth of the electric vehicle (EV) market is increasing demand for electricity infrastructure. To safely and efficiently charge EVs, consumers often need to install heavy-duty charging components in their garage. Relying on a simple plug-in from an existing wall outlet will take many hours to recharge a full-size EV. Between a growing EV market and steadily increasing demand for data centers, companies that make transformers, circuit breakers, and other electrical equipment will be important employers over the next decade.
Data Centers and Bitcoin Mining Require Lots of Power
Data centers use tremendous amounts of power, increasing demand for electricity. They are up to 50 times more power-intensive per square foot than a traditional office from decades past. This will spur jobs in electrical component manufacturing and power plants themselves. For example, to power its artificial intelligence (AI) computing and data centers, Microsoft has signed an agreement to purchase all the power generated by a re-opened nuclear power plant. Other tech giants, including Amazon and Google, are making similar deals. Their servers require lots of electricity, and important customers – including the federal government – do not want power outages disrupting their favorite websites and access to data!
Companies like Power and Data Management (PDM) are important components of our tech-savvy economy and will be major employers in the 2020s.
