Meta's huge data‑center pivot
Analysts say Meta is redirecting post‑layoff capital into data centers—boosting its El Paso facility to over $10B and targeting one gigawatt capacity by 2028 as part of a broader AI infrastructure push. The shift reframes hiring needs toward reliability, power planning, and large‑scale systems engineering. (markets.financialcontent.com)
Meta announced the project expansion during the Borderplex Alliance Global Border Summit on March 26, 2026, with Gary Demasi, Meta’s vice president of data‑center development, delivering the update. (cnbc.com) Meta’s datacenters team published that the site will support more than 300 permanent on‑site jobs when finished and expects over 4,000 construction workers at peak build. (datacenters.atmeta.com) The company’s Q4 2025 investor release set 2026 capital‑expenditure guidance at $115–$135 billion, a range Meta tied explicitly to expanded AI and infrastructure spending. (investor.atmeta.com) In a separate power‑infrastructure move, Meta and Entergy’s recent agreement for a Louisiana hyperscale site includes plans for Entergy to build multiple new natural‑gas plants and for Meta to fund those assets while also committing to add gigawatts of renewables and to explore nuclear options. (bloomberg.com) (entergy.com) Job‑board listings show Meta actively hiring infrastructure roles tied to asset uptime and capacity planning—examples include Data Center Facility Operations Reliability Engineer and Planning & Capacity Engineer postings, and dozens of reliability‑engineer listings on major sites. (glassdoor.com 1) (glassdoor.com 2) (indeed.com) Local response in El Paso has included public meetings and pushback over impacts and data used in planning, prompting Borderplex Alliance CEO Jon Barela and Meta representatives to publicly contest what they called misinformation about the project. (elpasotimes.com) (kfoxtv.com)
