The script rarely changes. A big tech company rolls into town with deep pockets, unveiling plans for a vast, resource-hungry data centre 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 centre 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 centre 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 centre in Latin America, just 2.5 miles from her village. Scala Data Centers is headquartered in Brazil and was founded by US 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 centre 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 centre project would bring new infrastructure to the region, improve its crumbling roads and bring public transport to the area.When Sirlei Souza first heard that a mega data centre was coming up in her backyard, she was hopeful. But now she worries that the promise of jobs won’t materialise. Photo: Alass Derivas/Environmental Reporting CollectiveBut doubt crept in after residents began reading news articles about the possible impact of data centres, 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 floodsIn 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.”Throughout Eldorado do Sul, reminders of the flood’s devastation are everywhere. Photo: Alass Derivas/Environmental Reporting CollectiveScala 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 prioritise local labour 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 centre will not impact local energy and water resources. The local government also did not respond to questions about the promised data centre 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 shortIn India, meanwhile, it takes an average of $770,000 in investment to create a single data centre job, according to an analysis of records from dozens of data centres.We gathered and reviewed 140 government filings related to 67 data centre projects seeking environmental clearances from 2021 to 2025. Of those, 46 projects included details on both investments and jobs.Data centres 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 centres created the fewest jobs relative to the amount invested.Amazon has six planned data centre projects near Hyderabad and Mumbai. Collectively, the data centres occupy 118 hectares. Amazon plans to invest $3.9 billion into the data centre 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 centres 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 centres, which create very few jobs, are directly competing for people’s resources.”First published on 4 March 2026.This report was produced in partnership with the Environmental Reporting Collective (ERC) network and is part of a collaborative series among international reporters investigating the human and environmental impacts of data centres. Read the full series at www.dirtydata.earth.The Environmental Reporting Collective is a network of journalists and newsrooms from over a dozen countries, all dedicated to investigating environmental crimes collaboratively.