Electrocutions, disease and no pay: worker exploitation in Europe's datacentres

A five-month investigation into Europe’s datacentre construction boom finds migrant workers facing dangerous job sites, poor accommodation, infectious-disease risks, unpaid wages and barriers to speaking up. The scale of construction is growing rapidly, with more than 2,300 datacentres across Europe and hundreds more being built. At Google’s Saint-Ghislain site in Belgium, electrical tester Sandu suffered severe burns and temporary blindness when he tested wiring that he had been told was de-energised. He says he lacked protective clothing because retrieving it would have delayed the job. The labour inspectorate closed its investigation without finding wrongdoing, and no company or contractor appears to have been held liable.

At Microsoft’s Gävle project in Sweden, Romanian workers supplied evidence of overcrowded housing, vermin, poor ventilation and inadequate heating. After one worker contracted active tuberculosis, workers say the company limited initial notification, described testing as optional and placed someone else in his room; authorities received no outbreak report. Payslips reviewed by investigators suggest some workers put in 50- to 60-hour weeks without overtime or holiday pay. A union negotiated a settlement with contractor BenBau for back pay and union access. Other reported incidents include serious injuries and alleged safety failures, while Swedish authorities have opened 50 cases involving datacentre working conditions since 2021. Contractors and technology companies cite safety policies, legal compliance and worker welfare commitments; unions argue that complex subcontracting and restricted access make abuses difficult to expose.