An investigation by Investigate Europe has uncovered allegations of serious workplace injuries, unpaid wages, overcrowded accommodation, infectious disease outbreaks and intimidation at major data centre construction sites across Europe. Migrant workers employed on projects for Google, Microsoft and Amazon describe a culture of pressure and poor oversight behind the continent’s rapidly expanding digital infrastructure.
With just 15 minutes left in his shift, Sandu Dumitrescu, a 34-year-old electrician, was asked to carry out two more electrical tests at Google’s data centre in Saint-Ghislain, Belgium. He had already worked almost 10 hours, but refusing was not an option, he told Investigate Europe.
“People have been fired just for saying no,” he said.
The tests were part of routine electrical safety checks that he had performed many times before. His protective suit, however, was locked away in a technical room. Retrieving it would have taken another 15 minutes, and other workers were waiting. Sandu decided to proceed without it.
Supervisors assured him that the high-voltage lines had been switched off. The first test went smoothly. During the second, as he connected cables using insulated clamps, the lines were still live. A discharge of 400 volts and 12,000 amps struck his face and the right side of his body. According to an apprentice who witnessed the incident, supervisors ran away, leaving him on the ground.
Sandu spent five days in an induced coma and suffered burns covering 12 per cent of his body, including third-degree injuries.
Two days after he regained consciousness, representatives of Google, electrical subcontractor Dornan Engineering and his Dutch recruitment agency, Wanted, visited him in hospital. While he was still bandaged, Sandu says, Google and Dornan each took a statement from him about the accident.
A Google spokesperson told Investigate Europe that its supplier code of conduct and contracts require suppliers to comply with local labour laws and provide safe and healthy working conditions.
No fines or sanctions have been reported. Belgium’s labour inspectorate closed its investigation at the end of October without identifying any irregularities. Sandu says inspectors never interviewed him.
His case is far from isolated.
A construction boom with little oversight
Investigate Europe’s investigation, based on interviews with migrant workers employed on major data centre projects for companies including Google and Microsoft, documents allegations of disabling injuries, poor accommodation, unreported infectious disease outbreaks, unpaid wages and exploitation.
Europe is experiencing its largest infrastructure expansion in decades. Investment in data centres could reach €100 billion by 2030, with individual construction sites employing as many as 2,000 workers across dozens of contractors.
The scale of the boom is unfolding in an industry that already has one of the EU’s worst workplace safety records. According to Eurostat, construction accounted for 776 workplace deaths in 2024, almost a quarter of all fatal occupational accidents across the bloc.
Yet the rapid expansion of data centre construction has not been matched by equivalent scrutiny of working conditions.
Milan: no inspections at data centre construction sites in three years
The metropolitan area of Milan has become one of Europe’s main data centre hubs. A mapping by the Politecnico di Milano identifies 33 operational facilities in the area, accounting for 68 per cent of Italy’s total data centre capacity. Another 10 are under construction, while 23 remain under consideration.
Despite this concentration of activity, the Milan labour inspectorate told Investigate Europe that it had carried out no inspections at data centre construction sites over the past three years.
“We are overwhelmed with work, and inspections are selected according to risk,” said Carlo Colopi, head of the Milan Metropolitan Labour Inspectorate. He added that, in the absence of evidence of negligence or complaints, including anonymous reports, there had been no reason to intervene.
Trade union representatives, however, say migrant workers are unlikely to report problems because they fear retaliation and often do not know their rights.
“Workers do not tell unions about problems because they are afraid of reprisals and often do not know their rights,” said Carlo Rioldi of the construction workers’ union Filca CISL in Milan. Many only approach unions after leaving a company, when it may already be too late to pursue their claims.
Access to construction sites is therefore crucial. At Pero, near Milan, Amazon is building a data centre across two adjacent sites managed by separate general contractors. Union representatives were able to enter the site managed by Gruppo ICM and speak to workers. Access to the site run by Altenia, a company controlled by Italian electricity grid operator Terna, was denied, a situation Investigate Europe witnessed directly.
Amazon said it expects all suppliers to comply with its Supply Chain Standards, which are based on international frameworks developed by the United Nations and the International Labour Organization.
At another data centre project in Siziano, near Pavia, union officials initially enjoyed cooperation from the company. But as construction progressed, access became increasingly difficult.
“Initially, they made a site office available and arranged meetings with workers at lunchtime. Now we have to stand outside the construction site to speak to them. They no longer let us in,” said Massimo Vidal, secretary general of the Fillea CGIL union in Pavia.
He believes the change is linked to pressure to meet deadlines: as projects advance, contractors become less willing to interrupt work so that union representatives can meet employees.
At another site in the Milan area, union representatives struggled to establish contact with management. They eventually gained access to workers’ meetings when the company planned to install surveillance cameras. Italian labour law requires an agreement with unions or authorisation from the labour inspectorate for such installations.
The meetings revealed irregularities in some companies’ payments to the construction workers’ fund, as well as problems with the validity of their social security compliance certificates. Following union complaints, the workers’ employment arrangements were regularised.
Other concerns included inadequate canteen facilities and discrepancies in payslips. At a site in Settimo Milanese, around 40 workers reportedly had access to only four canteen chairs, forcing some to eat in changing rooms among shoes and rubbish.
Union representatives also found that some workers who put in approximately 200 hours a month had only 120 to 140 hours recorded on their payslips. Such practices can reduce employers’ social security contributions while leaving workers entitled to lower unemployment benefits when their contracts end.
Safety training is another concern. Union officials say some employers obtain certificates for mandatory courses without ensuring that workers actually attend. Even when training takes place, language barriers can prevent migrant employees from understanding the instructions.
Sweden: rats, overcrowded housing and unpaid wages
The problems extend far beyond Italy.
“I wake up at two in the morning and hear rats gnawing and moving inside the walls,” said Adrian, a 45-year-old worker at a Microsoft data centre construction site near Gävle, Sweden.
He lives with dozens of colleagues in a prefabricated accommodation complex infested with rodents. Microsoft is investing 33.7 billion Swedish kronor, around €3 billion, in a data centre campus in the area to support its artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Adrian works for Benbau, an Irish-owned concrete construction company subcontracted by Collen Construction, another Irish contractor responsible for the project.
Workers say they have repeatedly complained about rodents, broken ventilation systems and a lack of heating during Sweden’s freezing winters, but the problems have remained unresolved.
More than six months after Adrian first reported the rats, the infestation had reportedly spread through the modular accommodation, which has 40 rooms. Twenty-four people share a kitchen, while 14 men use a single bathroom.
The overcrowded conditions have also raised concerns about infectious diseases. In February, a Romanian worker at the site became seriously ill and was eventually diagnosed with tuberculosis after several hospital visits. Investigate Europe reviewed his medical records.
Eight Benbau employees living in the same accommodation and several union representatives told the investigation that at least 10 to 12 men had contracted the disease.
Another worker, 60-year-old Mihai, also tested positive. He says Benbau offered to transfer him and other colleagues, whom he believed were infected, to another Microsoft construction site in Denmark. He decided not to go because of his age.
Workers say conditions were initially acceptable during the first years of the project, but deteriorated over the past two years as construction accelerated to meet demand for AI infrastructure.
In a video call with Investigate Europe, Romanian employees described interrogations, demands for written confessions and threats of wage deductions.
“It feels like being in the army now,” one worker said. “They rule through terror, psychological terror.”
More than 30 workers shared hundreds of payslips with the investigation. Many appeared to have worked up to 60 hours a week without receiving overtime payments, potentially in breach of Swedish labour law. Some also said they had gone five years without paid holidays.
The Swedish union Solidariska Byggare accused Benbau of owing 70 workers almost €900,000 in unpaid wages and other outstanding payments. After negotiations stalled, the union considered blocking work at the Microsoft site.
“Migrant workers do not know the system, and this creates a huge black hole in the Swedish model, almost a lawless territory,” said union representative Pelle Sunvisson.
Collen did not respond to the individual allegations but said they were “entirely incompatible” with the company’s values, policies and standards.
Microsoft said it expected everyone working on its behalf to be treated fairly and in accordance with Swedish labour law and its supplier code of conduct. It added that contractors were subject to clear requirements covering health and safety, working conditions, freedom of association and collective bargaining.
Behind the gates: union access restricted across Europe
The investigation also found that access to data centre construction sites can be difficult for trade unions in several European countries.
Pyotr Zaitsev, a technical manager who has spent seven years working on data centre projects, said he had experienced excessive working hours in both Germany and the Netherlands.
In Germany, his contract specified a 40-hour working week, but he regularly worked at least 60 hours and sometimes as many as 80. After moving to the Netherlands in search of better conditions, he joined Irish contractor Winthrop and worked on several major data centre projects.
After 18 months, he said, the pressure and safety concerns had returned. During one lifting operation, equipment fell from a roof and was destroyed. On another occasion, after completing a full shift, he fainted at the construction site and had to be taken to hospital.
In September, Pyotr contacted the Dutch trade union FNV for assistance. When union representatives attempted to enter the site, a Winthrop employee reportedly stopped them at the gate.
“Beyond this gate, we are no longer in the Netherlands,” the employee allegedly told them, adding that company management had not authorised their entry.
Winthrop said it complied with all applicable laws and regulations and maintained high health and safety standards. It added that union access was governed by agreed procedures applied consistently across its sites and in accordance with data centre security requirements.
Similar restrictions have been reported elsewhere. Swedish union representatives say they have been unable to enter Microsoft’s construction sites in Gävle and nearby Sandviken since the projects began.
In Denmark, trade union adviser Christian Foli Jensen said some data centre clients did not follow normal construction-site procedures.
“The construction sites are more closed than a state prison,” he said.
In Finland, union representatives generally have access to construction sites, but the process has taken longer with contractors newly established in the country. The union has received complaints from projects across the country, including allegations of unpaid wages and bogus self-employment, in which workers are registered as independent contractors despite effectively working as employees.
New EU rules and a first collective agreement
The European Labour Authority, which had fewer than 140 employees in 2025, acknowledges that its ability to monitor working conditions is limited. It told Investigate Europe that it has no independent powers to inspect workplaces, gather evidence or impose sanctions.
The European Commission is expected to present its Quality Jobs Act proposal in December. The legislation is intended to improve employment standards across the EU, including protections for workers in subcontracting chains.
The European Parliament has also adopted a report on subcontracting regulation, prepared by Swedish MEP Johan Danielsson. It calls for clearer rules on responsibility throughout subcontracting chains and penalties proportionate to the size of companies that put workers at risk.
“If these large American multinationals are allowed to come here and import their anti-union business models, we have a problem,” Danielsson said. “They abuse workers behind the fence and do not want anyone to know.”
There has, however, been a significant development in Gävle. Just days before the investigation was published, Solidariska Byggare reached a €1.3 million agreement with Benbau on behalf of the 70 Romanian workers at the Microsoft construction site.
Sunvisson described it as the first collective agreement in Sweden’s history negotiated for and by migrant workers. The deal is expected to provide back pay and compensation, as well as wages substantially above the Swedish average.
Benbau said it took all concerns about employee welfare, health and safety extremely seriously and had strict procedures for reporting, investigating and addressing workplace problems. The company confirmed that the collective agreement had been signed by all parties over the weekend.
The human cost behind the digital infrastructure
For Sandu, the consequences of the accident at Google’s Belgian site continue long after the incident itself.
He now spends most of his time inside his home in south-eastern Romania. Sunlight and noise are difficult to tolerate, and he suffers from anxiety attacks and flashbacks.
Doctors have told him that he may recover only 70 per cent of the use of his right hand and arm. Dornan paid for flights and hotel accommodation during his recovery, but Sandu says his recruitment agency failed to reimburse expenses as promised, leaving him thousands of euros out of pocket.
Still unable to work, he is struggling to pay the school fees of his six-year-old son.
“There are so many things that many people do not understand,” he said.
Dornan said it had cooperated with Belgian authorities investigating the incident and had supported Sandu and his family throughout his recovery. The company added that it remained committed to safe working conditions, compliance with labour laws and learning from incidents to prevent similar accidents.
The investigation raises a broader question about the social cost of Europe’s digital transformation.
“People working on these construction sites should be seen not only as workers, but as human beings,” said Lotta Sjölander of the Swedish union Byggnads. “As people, we have to decide what kind of data we want: data built on dignity, or data built on human lives?”
Be First to Comment