As Europe undergoes its largest infrastructure surge in decades with over 2,300 datacentres altering the continent's landscape, a five-month investigation has uncovered disturbing evidence of worker exploitation. The report details cases of debilitating injuries, squalid living conditions, and unreported infectious disease outbreaks among migrant laborers building facilities for companies like Google and Microsoft across Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and the Netherlands.
One harrowing case involves Sandu*, a 34-year-old electrical tester working at a Google datacentre site in Saint-Ghislain, Belgium. In March, after nearly 10 hours of work, he was pressured to perform an urgent safety test without retrieving his protective suit due to time constraints and fear of dismissal. Despite managers confirming the lines were de-energized, Sandu suffered a catastrophic arc flash electrocution when live cables carrying 400 volts and 12,000 amps struck him. Hospital records indicate he sustained burns covering 12% of his body, including third-degree burns on his right shoulder and fingers, requiring an induced coma for five days. Although Google and contractor Dornan Engineering representatives visited him in the hospital, no company has been held liable, and a local labor inspectorate closed its investigation in late October finding no wrongdoing.
Similar patterns of exploitation were found at a Microsoft datacentre expansion site near Gävle, Sweden. Workers employed by subcontractor BenBau reported living in overcrowded quarters with 24 people sharing a kitchen and 14 men using a single bathroom. They described vermin infestations, broken ventilation, and a lack of heating during sub-zero winters. These conditions contributed to an infectious outbreak; medical records show one Romanian worker tested positive for active tuberculosis in February, followed by similar symptoms in others living nearby. Workers allege that BenBau initially informed only a few men about the infection, claimed testing was optional, and moved another worker into the infected man's bedroom after he left for the hospital. Despite these reports, Swedish authorities stated no outbreak had been officially reported.
The investigation also highlights widespread issues regarding unpaid wages and excessive hours. More than 30 workers provided payslips indicating they worked up to 50 or 60 hours a week without overtime pay or missed holiday compensation. Unions argue that foreign workers' unfamiliarity with local laws facilitates this inequity. Days before the report's publication, the union Solidariska Byggare brokered a settlement with BenBau for the 70 Romanian workers at the Gävle site, securing back pay and union access.
Safety incidents are not isolated to these specific cases. A general contractor died on a UK datacentre site last year, and another fatality occurred in 2024 at an electrical substation for a Microsoft project. Serious accidents have also been recorded in Italy, Sweden, Norway, and Belgium. In Sweden alone, the Work Environment Authority has opened 50 cases since 2021 regarding working conditions at datacentre sites involving Microsoft and Irish firms. Recent incidents include a contractor falling through a roof hatch at the Gävle site and a supervisor requiring surgery after being run over by a forklift operated by an uncertified driver using the wrong machine.
Union representatives and European parliamentarians have criticized the reliance on anti-union business models imported by multinational corporations. James McCabe of Unite the Union noted a lack of meaningful union access and serious labor crimes at sites involving Irish contractors. Johan Danielsson, a European parliament rapporteur, warned that allowing these companies to operate without oversight leads to worker abuse behind closed fences. In response, Google stated its supplier code requires compliance with local laws and safe conditions, while Microsoft emphasized its robust audit processes and clear requirements for health, safety, and collective bargaining rights.
Sources: The Guardian Technology.