With New Funding, State Broadband Offices Boost Hiring Efforts

State and territory broadband offices have dramatically increased in size over the past year as they deploy billions of dollars in economic recovery funds and start to manage a historic federal investment in broadband expansion. With money from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), these offices now have sufficient funding to cover everything from infrastructure deployment to digital literacy. The decisions that leaders make on how to increase their internal capacities and organize their offices will play a significant role in closing the digital divide and shape their ability to continue the momentum beyond this current cycle of investment. Pew’s broadband access initiative has been tracking public job postings for state and territory broadband offices and identified 68 such postings across 29 states from September 2021 through September 2022. The analysis found that states that established their broadband offices within the past year account for the bulk of recent job postings, with hiring focused on key positions such as office directors and administrators. At the same time, already operating offices have increased capacity in more specific roles or posted for positions in response to turnover. Initiatives and programs will need to contend with the persistent demographic factors that exacerbate this divide, including income levels and where people live, as well as the nation’s history of infrastructure construction delays and perpetual innovation in how the internet is used. State broadband offices therefore will need an immediate surge in staffing along with the permanent capacity to ensure that they are able to support efforts to close the digital divide now and into the future.