Blackstone Sees AI Heralding ‘Huge Boom’ in Blue Collar Jobs

Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray said the boom in artificial intelligence will lead to a surge in blue-collar employment as asset managers like his shell out billions on data centers and other infrastructure.

For instance, QTS — a data-center operator backed by Blackstone — will have 40,000 people working on job sites around the country by the end of the year, Gray said. That’s up from 10,000 just one year ago.

Jon Gray

Photographer: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

“This is a huge boom in blue collar employment, certainly over the next 5 years,” Gray said during a panel at the Milken Institute Global Conference. “Where these ...