The script rarely changes. A big tech company rolls into town with deep pockets, unveiling plans for a vast, resource-hungry data center campus.
The government rolls out the red carpet, riding on the promise of economic growth, technological advancement and a coveted place on the global data center map.
For local communities, while employment is often dangled as a main benefit of having a hyperscale facility as a neighbour, it isn't always delivered.
When Sirlei Souza, 62, heard that a data center was coming to Brazil's Eldorado do Sul, promising jobs, she was optimistic.
Brazilian-based Scala Data Centers had said they would be building "AI City," touted as the largest data center in Latin America, just 2.5 miles from her village. Scala Data Centers is headquartered in Brazil and was founded by U.S. global digital infrastructure investment firm DigitalBridge.
Eldorado residents are still struggling to recover from devastating floods that hit the region in 2024, which damaged their fields, drowned livestock and destroyed 81% of the houses and local businesses. The municipality was among the most heavily affected in the region.
"People were very happy with news of the data center because many of them needed to leave the region to work in other places," said Souza, a community leader in Guaíba City, a rural village.
Residents also hoped the data center project would bring new infrastructure to the region, improve its crumbling roads and bring public transport to the area.
But doubt crept in after residents began reading news articles about the possible impact of data centers, such as the intense use of water and energy resources. They realised that they knew next to nothing about the coming project.
"We are trying to get more information," she said. "But the company hasn't talked to us."
Raquel do Reis Roman, 45, meanwhile, is concerned that the promise of employment was just an "illusion" and will not reach those who need it.
"The most skilled jobs will go to people from outside, because most of the population here does not have the necessary qualifications."
Surviving the floods
In the city, Marginato Matos, 59, a sociologist and one of the coordinators of Eldorado do Sul's emancipation campaign in the late 1980s — when it sought independence from the municipality of Guaíba — said that even basic jobs would be welcome.
"The social situation in the city is very serious. I don't believe the city will recover [from the floods] in less than ten years," he said. "Bricklayers don't have work, nor do domestic workers. If these people are given an opportunity, it could mark a positive step in the recovery."
Scala Data Centers said the first phase of construction will create more than 3,000 "direct and indirect" jobs and boost sectors such as energy, construction and telecommunications. The company has pledged to prioritize local labor and suppliers, support the region's development and invite companies from its supply chain to the region.
However, Scala did not provide further details about the nature or duration of the jobs, only that once in operation, its data center will not impact local energy and water resources. The local government also did not respond to questions about the promised data center jobs.
Eldorado do Sul Mayor Juliana Carvalho and her team have been working to help the city recover from the floods and felt the AI City project would help rebuild the city.
"Both from the point of view of restoring confidence…and in terms of investment. In fact, it will be a paradigm shift," she said last April. She did not respond to more recent requests for comments.
When jobs generated fall short
In India, meanwhile, it takes an average of $770,000 in investment to create a single data center job, according to an analysis of records from dozens of data centers.
We gathered and reviewed 140 government filings related to 67 data center projects seeking environmental clearances from 2021 to 2025. Of those, 46 projects included details on both investments and jobs.
Data centers across India generate few jobs relative to the amount invested, the analysis reveals. Yet, they require huge amounts of power, water and land, straining the environment and communities already living on the margins.
Among the companies reviewed, Amazon's data centers created the fewest jobs relative to the amount invested.
Amazon has six planned data center projects near Hyderabad and Mumbai. Collectively, the data centers occupy 118 hectares. Amazon plans to invest $3.9 billion into the data center projects. However, they will only generate around 929 jobs, approximately one job for every $4.2 million invested.
When compared to other companies, Amazon's data centers also created the fewest jobs per unit of land and per unit of computing power generated. Amazon representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
"AI is already replacing people in jobs across industries," said Nityanand Jayaraman, a researcher and activist in Chennai, India. "Now, data centers, which create very few jobs, are directly competing for people's resources."