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State workforce groups typically wait until there is a job shortfall before they initiate training programs
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A staffing professional for broadband construction says 25-30% of the costs for upcoming fiber deployments will be for labor
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Workforce leaders at Cox and Verizon agreed that staffing up is key
Companies that plan to apply for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) funds should be planning now for how they’re going to staff their projects, according to numerous people at the recent Connect(X) conference.
Evan Feinman, director for BEAD with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), said state workforce groups typically wait until there is a job shortfall before they initiate training programs.
“In this instance, we know there’s $42.5 billion of demand,” said Feinman. “They need to be ramping up training. I strongly encourage folks to be in dialog with workforce development bodies.”
The Executive Director for the Georgia Broadband Program Jessica Simmons said there is already a lot of money “in flight” for broadband projects. “There are significant ARPA programs in most states,” she said. “The need is already here. Also, you don’t want to wait for workforce development.”
Michelle Heiliger, director of HR for Sellenriek Construction, said 25% – 30% of the cost for upcoming fiber deployments will go toward labor, varying a bit by geographic location and whether the labor is union or non-union.
She said it’s a bad idea to wait until the last minute to secure your labor force. But she acknowledged that no one likes to pay for an idle workforce, either.
David Hicks, VP of construction with Cox Communications, said it’s really important for Cox to stay in communication with its labor partners because if they begin to lose money because of inflation or other factors, Cox’s fiber projects will “come to a quick end.”
In terms of training the new fiber workforce, Heilinger said, “Good employers are saying ‘how do we build our own people?’ You’re not going to walk into a high school and say ‘how would you like to be a horizontal driller?’”
On one panel at Connect(X), Katharine Saunders, VP and deputy general counsel with Verizon, noted that there have been quite a lot of Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) defaults, largely because companies realized after they won awards to serve rural areas that their business models didn’t make sense. Some of the business-model failure came from the higher-than-expected costs of labor.
Saunders put in a plug for Verizon, saying it’s really important that when states award BEAD funds that they select “a provider with a workforce.”
Editor’s Note: Fierce Network has teamed with the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) to create the Broadband Nation portal for all things related to telecom jobs and training. The site is designed to help attract, train and deliver the next generation of broadband workers to build and upgrade communications networks that will conquer the digital divide across the country.
