Data centres must be included in the Norwegian tripartite model
Neither collective agreements, tripartite cooperation nor competence policy are mentioned in the government's data centre strategy. This is a serious hole in a strategy that will lay the foundation for a sector we want to focus on," says NITO President Kjetil Lein.
Debate: By NITO President Kjetil Lein. The post was published 12.01.2026 on altinget.no.
The Government's data centre strategy is ambitious in many areas, but has a remarkably thin labour market perspective. Collective agreements are not mentioned. Tripartite cooperation is not mentioned. Competence policy is hardly mentioned.
This is a serious hole in a strategy that will lay the foundation for a sector we want to focus on.
Sweeping promises of jobs
The number of data center establishments will grow sharply in the years to come. The question is how many Norwegian jobs they create. The government promises thousands of new jobs, especially in rural areas. But experience from other countries shows that the reality is often different.
When the government uses jobs as a key argument, there must also be demands that these jobs are actually created.
When Microsoft and Google established data centers in Chile, there were also promises of thousands of jobs. But an investigation by the Rest of World in 2025 showed that the number of permanent jobs ended at a few hundred. Most of the positions were also temporary and linked to the construction period.
In 2024, the Norwegian data center industry employed around 4,400 full-time equivalents, mainly in the construction phase. Forecasts from the industry show a peak of 25,000 full-time equivalents in 2031, but these are temporary jobs. When the construction dust settles, there are estimated to be around 13,400 man-years left. This number includes both those who work permanently to operate the data centers, and those who work with maintenance and upgrades over time.
We need more knowledge about the industry
Both researchers and politicians have criticized the data center industry for luring with an unrealistically large number of local jobs. The discussion about data centres is characterised by the fact that we currently have little systematised knowledge about what characterises the industry in Norway.
What we do know is that the establishment phase requires traditional building and construction expertise. For many years, this industry has been characterised by social dumping, particularly in connection with the use of foreign labour. The cooperation between the parties and agreed seriousness provisions has been crucial to ensuring decent working conditions.
As data centers transition, skills needs change. According to Green Mountain, operations technicians, security and cleaning personnel as well as various support functions are needed. Abelia compares operational data centers with traditional process industries, which require people with the same trade certificates as employees on an oil platform.
The oil industry was integrated into the Norwegian model from the start, with collective agreements, tripartite cooperation and skills policy.
Research from Fafo shows that digitalisation represents a greater challenge for the Norwegian model than previous technological changes. Some of the reasons are a faster pace of change, a greater distance between operations and management, and new players who are unfortunately not traditionally organized in a union.
A survey from E24 in September 2025 shows that more than half of data centers in Norway have foreign owners. Many of the decisions are then made outside the country, by international actors with a different culture of organisation and weaker collective agreements.
The Minister of Digitalisation himself says that job creation and value creation are one of three main reasons why data centres on Norwegian soil are important. It obliges. When the government uses jobs as a key argument for facilitating data center establishments, there must also be requirements that these jobs are actually created – and that they are sustainable, safe and part of organized working life.
NITO is positive to mechanisms that ensure that promises of jobs are followed up in practice. Green Mountain's agreement of NOK 100,000 per missing full-time equivalent can be seen as a tool to ensure accountability. But fines are of no help if we do not get broader labour market policy measures.
What needs to be done?
Nito has six specific proposals:
- Map what kind of jobs are created in and around Norwegian data centers.
- Establish a formalized tripartite collaboration for the data center industry, where authorities, employers and employees actively participate in the development of the industry.
- Revise the data center strategy with a separate chapter on labor policy, in collaboration with the parties.
- Require documented participation from trade unions in establishment processes.
- Set requirements for and facilitate value creation, including ripple effects in associated industries.
- Develop binding and long-term agreements between data center players and local communities. The proposal from the industry itself to develop clusters and local ecosystems is a good starting point that should be further developed.
The Norwegian model is a competitive advantage
Norway has succeeded in building strong industries before. The oil industry was integrated into the Norwegian model from the start, with collective agreements, tripartite cooperation and skills policy. The same applies to aquaculture and parts of the renewable sector.
The Norwegian model is about more than wages and working hours. It is about cooperation between employers, employees and authorities. About building competence, ensuring co-determination and creating sustainable jobs.
This is our competitive advantage, and it must not be forgotten in the face of a new billion-dollar industry.