Meta is launching a national workforce training boot camp geared specifically toward training workers for jobs in AI infrastructure—and Baton Rouge is its first stop.
The boot camp, a $115 million investment dubbed “America’s Workforce Academy,” will train thousands of workers across the country to build the physical infrastructure that powers AI.
One of only four pilot locations in the nation, Baton Rouge has been selected as the first cohort site. The other pilot locations are Houston, Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio.
“The AI revolution is bringing change but also historic opportunities,” said Dina Powell McCormick, Meta president and vice chair, in a statement. “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.”
One of the most notable features of the academy is its accessibility. The program doesn’t require a college degree or prior experience, opening the door to residents who may not have traditionally had access to high-tech infrastructure careers.
The four- to five-week boot camp is designed to prepare participants for jobs in fields like data center construction, fiber installation, power generation support and grid modernization. The model is intentionally built for speed and scale, addressing what industry leaders describe as a growing shortage of skilled labor in the AI infrastructure sector.
The academy is fully funded by Meta and includes full tuition coverage, airfare and lodging, and a daily stipend during training.
Just as notable as the program’s accessibility is its built-in employment pipeline.
Once accepted into the academy, participants receive a conditional job offer from a Meta contractor partner. Upon graduation, trainees are immediately employed by those contractor partners, assigned to work on-site at Meta data center construction projects and integrated directly into ongoing AI infrastructure build-outs.
Details on when and where the Baton Rouge boot camp will take place have not yet been shared. Interested participants are encouraged to apply here.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is currently building a massive data center in Richland Parish. While the data center initially had a price tag of $10 billion, President Donald Trump in August claimed the cost could soar as high as $50 billion. The facility’s footprint will purportedly be large enough to cover most of Manhattan.
