The massive funding being infused into broadband networks by the U.S. and state governments will create an “extraordinary” amount of engineering and construction activity, disrupting the fiber deployment labor market, according to a nationwide study by Continuum Capital, an independent consulting firm. The demand created by the funding will exceed the supply of engineering, permitting, locating, and construction workforces, the study said.
The “Broadband Market Workforce Needs” study was commissioned by the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and the Power & Communication Contractors Association (PCCA), which announced the results at Fiber Connect 2024 in Nashville.
To avoid bottlenecks and construction delays, 28,000 more broadband construction workers and 30,000 more broadband technician workers are needed immediately to execute the current amount of planned federal and state broadband funding, according to the study. Over the next 10 years, an additional 119,200 construction and technician workers will be needed for ongoing and routine broadband construction, attachment, and maintenance activities, the study said.
“These needs are on top of the drafting, design, and engineering resource needs that were not specifically studied but represent a bottleneck before infrastructure can be released for construction,” the FBA and PCCA said. “The use of design-build and/or turnkey delivery systems will likely accelerate to compensate for these bottlenecks and delays.”
“In 2016, the PCCA Board identified the shortage of workers in broadband construction as the largest obstacle our members faced, and a subsequent membership survey showed that contractors were short 10 to 17 crews per company,” PCCA President/CEO Tim Wagner said. “The tremendous influx of public money since 2016 has only exacerbated the problem.”
To increase the fiber deployment workforce, PCCA has implemented several strategies, including partnering with technical/community colleges on utility technician programs, registered apprenticeships through TIRAP, a returning veteran program through the Learning Alliance, working with state broadband offices, and outreach through social media videos.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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