There have been many discussions about building the workforce for broadband. Large government funding programs for infrastructure projects got everybody’s attention last year because most programs
included funding for training the workforce.
The reason for including funding for training was the postpandemic shortages of skilled labor in many fields. Broadband was one specific field where funding programs called for jobs to be staffed by trained and certified workers.
Recruiting talent
Much of the discussion around the skilled labor shortage, especially about the broadband workforce, has involved widely varying estimates on workforce needs. Once the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics released its new job category for Telecommunications Technicians, BLS job statistics showed the trade only needs about 10,000–15,000 more workers each year. This can be easily achieved with the technician training programs existing today.
The biggest issue for workforce development, however, is not training—it’s recruitment. The problem facing telecom and fiber optic employers is the same faced by all the trades. We have an aging workforce, and recruiting replacements is woefully inadequate. We are only getting part of what we need to maintain the current workforce size, meaning the workforce will shrink. We really need to add about 20,000–25,000 new recruits to grow.
It looks like the problem has two parts. First, high schools focus on preparing students for college at the expense of trade education. While many schools have developed career and technical education programs, guidance counselors often still aim to send everybody to higher education. It is a myth that everyone needs a college degree to succeed.
The second issue may actually be harder to solve: how do we get young people interested in the trades? They sometimes have unrealistic expectations based on their heroes. When I was in high school in the 1960s, some of my friends aspired to become rock stars or astronauts. When our kids were in high school in the 1990s, the goal was to become a professional athlete. A few years ago, it was computer animation programmers for the movies. Today it seems everybody wants to become an internet influencer.
Giving young people information about the trades
Somehow, we need to inject a little realism and make the trades appealing. Nobody is going to aspire to be a telecom tech when they don’t have any idea what someone with this job does. Who’s teaching them what makes their internet work, or their computer, smartphone or cable TV?
Community and technical colleges already deliver that message, because they are more focused on career and technical education. The Fiber Optic Association (FOA) now has almost a hundred community and technical colleges in our system teaching fiber optics and communications cabling. Kentucky and Ohio have statewide programs offering FOA training and certification. Ohio is also looking at bringing some of the curriculum to high schools, where recruitment should begin.
To recruit high schoolers, we must convince guidance counselors that making good pay while learning how to build broadband networks is a worthwhile, stable and enjoyable life choice. While some students are meant for college, many others will find fulfillment and job security in technical education and connecting the networks of the future.
We need to find ways to approach young people through their preferred sources of entertainment and news—the internet. That may be where we can promote the intangibles of a career in the trades. In broadband, it’s making good money working with state-of-the-art tech, using unique skills and helping people get connected. I’ve interviewed many field techs, and they also mention they like working in the great outdoors and being part of a tight-knit crew that works well together.
We also need to close the gender gap. Women represent less than 3% of workers in the trades. In interviews with some of these women, they expressed that their job satisfaction is quite high. Several have also used their skills and knowledge to become top-quality instructors.
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About The Author
HAYES is a VDV writer and educator and the president of the Fiber Optic Association. Find him at www.JimHayes.com.