Lack of Adequate Workforce Expected to Hamper Broadband Industry, Says Panel
‘Everyone says, ‘Oh, there’s going to be a workforce shortage,’ but no one is really focusing on it.’
David B. McGarry
LAS VEGAS, October 4, 2022 – The American broadband industry is likely to soon face an acute workforce shortage, said a panel Monday at the WISPAPALOOZA conference.
As the federal government rolls out unprecedented broadband monetary investments from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment program and other sources, some experts warn that the industry is glossing over the absence of another crucial resource: labor.
“Everyone says, ‘Oh, there’s going to be a workforce shortage,’ but no one is really focusing on it,” said Elizabeth Bowles, CEO of internet service provider Aristotle Unified Communications.
What’s more, many workers in the nation’s broadband workforce will be very inexperienced, said Matt Larsen, CEO of internet service provider Vistabeam.
The Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act, the big infrastructure funding package, includes money for workforce training. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo has previously emphasized the need for workforce training funds for broadband infrastructure.
Some governments are working to expand the broadband workforce as well. In March, Ohio State University announced a new curriculum on broadband technologies. That same month, the federal Telecommunications Workforce Interagency Group held its first webcast, where apprenticeship programs were discussed as crucial for the future of broadband expansion.
Larsen told Broadband Breakfast, however, that union-friendly hiring restrictions are likely to cause further workforce-driven delays. Regulators and industry players must balance “the worker’s well-being and ability to earn with the company’s need for predictable and manageable goals,” he said.
Larsen predicted better workforce outcomes for areas in which companies “have the flexibility to hire the people that are best for the job.”
How Vistabeam is recruiting and training its team
Vistabeam is “trying to build [its] own army,” Larsen told Broadband Breakfast. He said his company recruits hard-working young people who demonstrate an ability to learn: “We’re really looking for learn-it-alls as opposed to know-it-alls.”
In addition to offering competitive pay and good benefits, Larsen said Vistabeam attracts candidates by highlighting the fun side of working in the broadband industry and learning about technology. Employees go through a comprehensive and ongoing training process to ensure safety, he added.
At a Pew Charitable Trusts event last summer, Rachael Stephens, director of workforce development and economic policy for the National Governors Association, argued for collaboration between a host of partners, including the federal government, state governments, private industry, and educational institutions.
