The FBA predicts that 205,000 fiber optic technicians will be needed across the country over the next five years
Last June, the Biden administration announced how it will allocate the $42.5 billion in federal funding for the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program to U.S. states and territories. Now it’s on the states to decide how these funds will be used to close the digital divide. And while the money will go a long way in addressing the previously understood biggest barrier — cost and the nonexistent or too-slow ROI — internet service providers (ISPs) are now asking another important question: Now that they can afford to extend their networks, who, as in literally who, is going to build them?
According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), the number of jobs in the U.S. in 2021 that fall under the category of telecommunications equipment installers and repairers was 178,000. And in 2022, it increased to 299,300. The agency expects the numeric change in employment from 2021 to 2032 to be 18,900 in this sector. Further, the BLS projects that overall employment of telecommunications technicians will grow 6% from 2022 to 2032, faster than the average for all occupations.
“The continued push for increased broadband access to underserved areas is resulting in workforce need for buildout of physical internet connections, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic and its spotlight on home internet use,” Christine Machovec, an economist with the BLS, previously confirmed for RCR Wireless News. “5G and broadband expansion to underserved areas of the country have spurred current demand for telecommunications line installers and repairers and telecommunications equipment installers and repairers [as] government investment in the telecommunications sector has supported construction of broadband and mobile internet connections.”
When RCR Wireless checked research firm Zippia’s stats last year, there were more than 23,625 fiber optic technicians employed in the U.S. as of September 2022. Unfortunately, the firm’s latest stats show that this number has dropped to 19,840.
In addition to being a shrinking industry, telecom is also an aging one: According to Deborah Kish, the VP of workforce development at the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA), 60% of the current fiber tech workforce is on a retirement path. This fact, paired with no efficient pipeline in place to bring in new workers and the reality that BEAD is estimated to create 150,000 telecom jobs has left a glaring skills gap that seems particularly challenging to fill.
In fact, the FBA predicts that 205,000 fiber optic technicians will be required across the country over the next five years. Kish explained that it arrived at this number by creating a formula using BLS data, the average crew size plus how many miles of fiber are expected to be built.
“Considering the above, there is serious risk that there will not be enough feet on the ground to deliver the new networks,” the FBA warned in its Broadband Workforce Development Guidebook. “For the states, insufficient availability of high-skilled labor will result in workforce bottlenecks, leading ultimately to delayed or failed project.”
