Meta Workforce Academy: pay, requirements, locations and how to apply

What is Meta Workforce Academy?

America's Workforce Academy, often searched as "Meta Workforce Academy", is Meta's skilled-trades training program. Meta announced it on June 8, 2026, with $115 million for the first year. It trains people to build the data centers Meta needs for AI, because there aren't enough electricians, welders, plumbers and fiber technicians to go around.

Meta runs it with Associated Builders and Contractors (a construction trade group), CBRE (a large data center facilities company) and the National Urban League.

The key facts

Meta Workforce Academy requirements

• No degree and no trade experience needed.
• Any state: applicants from all 50 states are considered, with travel and lodging covered.
• Background check and drug screening before the job offer is final.
• Finish the program, since the job offer depends on it.

Construction work is physical, outdoors at times, and starts early. If you can't pass a drug screen right now, wait until you can before applying.

How much does Meta Workforce Academy pay?

During training you get a daily stipend, plus covered airfare and lodging. Meta hasn't published the stipend amount, so be wary of any site quoting one without a source.

After training, pay depends on your trade and the contractor. For a rough sense, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics median for electricians was about $63,190 a year in May 2025. In May 2024 it was about $62,970 for plumbers and pipefitters, and $51,000 for welders. Data center projects can pay more: in Texas they reportedly pay around $35 an hour, compared with about $20 at small homebuilders.

Meta Workforce Academy locations

The 2026 training centers are in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Columbus, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana and Houston, Texas. The first classes trained in Ohio and Indiana. Meta says more locations are coming in 2027. You don't need to live near one: Meta covers airfare and lodging for people who travel in.

How to apply to Meta Workforce Academy

1. Go to Meta's official application page (button below). Apply only there or through ABC, never through a site that asks for a fee.
2. Choose the training location and track you want.
3. If you're accepted, get the job offer details in writing: which trade, which contractor and where the job is.
4. On your first call, ask about the stipend amount, start dates, and how travel and housing work.

No public deadline is listed. Classes fill, so apply early.

Apply on Meta's official page

Is Meta Workforce Academy legit?

Yes. Meta announced it in its own newsroom, Associated Builders and Contractors has an official page for it, and Fortune and Construction Dive covered it. It's free, so anyone charging you to apply or "guarantee a spot" is not part of the program. Because the program is new, there are few public reviews from graduates yet.

Similar options

• AWS pre-apprenticeship: 4 paid weeks at community colleges in Mississippi and Pennsylvania.
• Per Scholas: a free 15-week data center technician program in several US cities.
• IBEW apprenticeship: the longer, paid route to becoming a journeyman electrician.

Compare data center training programs or use the path finder.

Quick answers