How Amazon is Training the Green Data Centre Workforce

Much of building the next wave of AI data centres will be about finding the people to build and operate them sustainably.

As operators race to deploy efficient infrastructure, demand is rising for engineers, technicians and cloud specialists with the skills to support lower-carbon facilities.

Amazon says meeting that challenge requires investment in both greener data centres and the workforce behind them.

Building more efficient AI infrastructure

Alongside the rapid expansion of cloud services, Amazon says it is investing in technologies that improve the efficiency of its global data centre estate.

Across its wider business, AI is already being used to optimise packaging, improve logistics, monitor buildings, identify equipment faults and enhance waste sorting.

Those operational improvements complement investments in infrastructure designed to lower the environmental footprint of AI.

Amazon says it is continuing to expand carbon-free energy to support growing AI demand while maintaining governance around responsible AI development.

Its latest generation of facilities incorporates advanced liquid-to-chip cooling and water-saving technologies to support dense AI workloads.

In 2025, Amazon's data centres achieved a global Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.14, outperforming the public cloud industry average while supporting continued growth in AI and cloud services with lower environmental impact.

The company is also widening access to cloud technology beyond its own operations. Through its Social Entrepreneur Accelerator, AWS has provided cloud and AI training to more than 100 customers across 34 countries, alongside US$17.9m in AWS cloud and AI technology to support education and digital skills.

Investing in skills for the AI economy

Through Amazon's Future Ready 2030 programme, the company has committed US$2.5bn to help at least 50 million people gain education and skills for the future workplace.

Kara Hurst, Chief Sustainability Officer at Amazon, says: "As we continue working to sustainably meet our customers’ demands for AI, we’re also investing in our teammates and neighbours so they can take advantage of the new opportunities that AI creates, helping to build sustainable communities and power prosperity across the country and around the world.

“It’s why we launched Future Ready 2030, a US$2.5bn pledge to help 50 million people gain new skills and benefit from the new opportunities in this changing economy.

"Working with local partners, we offer programmes ranging from prepaid college tuition and career certifications for our employees, to free AI skills training for people at any point in their careers, to computer science education in our schools.

"While change can be unsettling, we see huge new opportunities for so many people and are committed to doing our part."

Alongside the broader initiative, AWS re/Start has trained 14,400 unemployed or underemployed people through its 12-week cloud skills programme, helping create new routes into technology careers.

Amazon has also exceeded its original target of helping 300,000 US employees gain new skills by 2025. Since 2019, 599,000 US employees and more than 980,000 employees globally have participated in upskilling programmes.

Supporting infrastructure beyond the data centre

Amazon's sustainability strategy extends beyond its data centres to the wider infrastructure supporting cloud operations and ecommerce.

The company now operates more than 52,700 electric delivery vans globally, delivering 2.4 billion packages during 2025. In the US, it has installed more than 50,500 EV chargers across 380 delivery stations, creating what it says is the country's largest private electric vehicle charging network.

It is also expanding electric heavy goods vehicles for middle-mile logistics while increasing the use of electric cargo bikes in urban areas.

Alongside electrification, Amazon is using AI-powered route optimisation, consolidated deliveries and inventory positioned closer to customers to reduce transport emissions.

Where electric vehicles are not yet practical, the company continues investing in renewable diesel, sustainable aviation fuel and renewable natural gas as part of its broader decarbonisation strategy.

Together with continued investment in renewable energy and AI-ready data centres, these measures form part of Amazon's approach to reducing emissions while expanding the infrastructure needed to support growing cloud and AI demand.