Pew Warns That Workforce Issues Could Hamper BEAD Rollout
States might struggle to meet BEAD deadlines, given workforce issues that range from lack of skilled telecom workers to training requirements, Pew's Broadband Access Initiative said in a report last week. It's tough to accurately calculate workforce needs to support BEAD, since it overlaps with programs like the Rural Deployment Opportunity Fund and Capital Projects Fund, Pew said, noting that workers needed for deployments can move back and forth among those programs. With issues such as insufficient federal data, ISP hiring trends and a reliance on subcontractors, it "creates uncertainty about the health and size of the available workforce."
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The broadband industry also "faces a significant skills gap [with no] immediate way to replace those skills," Pew said, pointing to an aging telecommunications workforce. Training for broadband occupations can take months, it said. Flat wages over time for broadband jobs indicate that there could be persistent shortages unless pay rises, "especially as BEAD competes with other infrastructure projects for the same workers."
Pew urged more research on identifying strategies for the federal government, states and providers to quickly expand their broadband workforces.