The number of jobs created for Malaysians from data centre investments is not directly proportional to the amount of investment announced, said Human Resources Minister R Ramanan.

His remarks come amid concerns over the real spillover value of the country’s growing data centre sector, as well as environmental worries over the facilities’ high water consumption.

In a written parliamentary reply yesterday, Ramanan said data centres are “capital-intensive investments”, with much of their value spent on high-quality equipment, electrical infrastructure, and cooling systems. As a result, most jobs in the sector are high-value and require specialised technical skills.

The minister did not provide figures on how many jobs have so far been created from data centre investments.