Room 401

The US Telecommunication’s industry employs ~672,000 technicians.  At the current rate of expected deployment 850,000 new broadband and 5G jobs will be created through 2025.  In June of this year the Biden-Harris Administration launched the “Talent Pipeline Challenge: Supporting Employer Investments in Equitable Workforce Development for Infrastructure Jobs” with the goal of filling high quality jobs to help build Broadband infrastructure among other industries.  With recent government support the digital divide will be broken and the unserved and underserved have line of sight to next generation broadband services. 

As global uncertainty and supply chain issues resolve the focus must shift to talent development or intended goals of the BEAD program will be delayed.  The industry must come together to attract and train a pipeline of people from diverse backgrounds, provide a path to employment and continue new skill development throughout their careers.  AT&T, Corning, FBA and the Administration will host a discussion roundtable to highlight the challenges, share current actions and propose how industry partners and educational institutions can build training programs to support industry growth.