TowerCrews.net is a resume database, job board and information source focused on connecting tower climbers with employers in tower-related industries. In the past year, more than 500 employer accounts have been opened and more than 7,400 resumes posted. Weekly job updates are emailed to more than 87,000.

In addition to the resume and job boards, TowerCrews offers services in employment branding, talent intelligence and recruitment strategies. Jeff Mucci, CEO, started TowerCrews.net in July of 2013, and it has grown to be one of the largest websites of its type. It is an affiliate of RCR Wireless News and  of TeleComcareers – a global telecom and wireless job board. “That is very, very important,” Mucci said. “We present and market the climber jobs across our entire digital community”

One of the challenges for TowerCrews, and the entire industry, is there are more climber jobs available than qualified people to fill them. Carriers outsource their climbing jobs to service companies who then hire the climbers.

“The problem is the carriers start and stop their deployments,” Mucci said. “The climbers seem to get the short end of the stick in terms of job security, but the climbers are the folks who make the network work.”

During the past year, Mucci has seen a change in that as system integrators consolidate to make larger companies with more work. They then can self-perform the work instead of using contract employees. “I think that is a positive trend for the tower industry and for the qualified climbers,” Mucci said.

Mucci said the industry also needs better training and safety programs, and he has also seen positive moves toward that in the past year.