When $42.5 billion was allocated by the federal government through its Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program (BEAD), it seemed as though the day when broadband would be widely available from coast to coast was just around the corner.

But, according to a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts, money alone doesn’t solve problems if there aren’t enough trained workers to utilize it effectively. The kind of workers who are needed just begin with equipment operators, fiber and wireless technicians, inspectors, laborers, master electricians, software engineers and so on. But, according to Pew, “Workforce challenges have already been widely cited as risk factors in almost every state.”

Some of the key findings of the report include: 

• “The pool of skilled telecommunications workers is shrinking just as demand is rising sharply.”

• “Training requirements mean new workers cannot be mobilized quickly, raising risks of deployment delays.”

• “Competitive wages and benefit packages are crucial as telecommunications employers compete for workers across industries” 

• “Inconsistency in jobs classifications in federal data obscure workforce needs.”

The report points to a study by Continuum Capital, on behalf of the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) and the Power & Communication Contractors Association (PCCA). It “found that the need for new workers to join the broadband industry will be significant between 2025 and 2032—the primary window for projects funded by BEAD and other federal programs. The study also found that the number of workers who are retiring and leaving the field over the next 10 years will be even greater than the number of new workers needed by 2032. 

“An estimated 28,000 new broadband construction-related jobs and 30,000 new technician jobs will need to be filled, with an additional 56,000 and 64,000 workers in those categories, respectively, needed to replace departing workers over the next 10 years.¹³ This may indicate that while thousands of workers will be needed to ensure the implementation of BEAD and other federal investments in broadband deployment, long-term strategies to attract and retain workers will be needed to ensure that the networks providing universal access are maintained and expanded beyond the next decade.”

To make matters worse, reports Pew, “The workforce is aging: Nearly one-fifth (17%) of telecommunications workers are now between 55 and 64, compared with 7% in the 1970s. Similarly, the share of workers 65 or older make up 3% of the workforce, up from 1% from the 1970s to 2000s.”

Surprisingly, Pew found that “wages for broadband jobs have remained flat.” You’d anticipate that this kind of demand for workers would immediately translate into higher wages, but that doesn’t appear to have been the case. Pew concludes that “shortages may persist unless employers raise pay, especially as BEAD competes with other infrastructure projects for the same workers.”

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