Telecommunications Workforce: Additional Workers Will Be Needed to Deploy Broadband, but Concerns Exist About Availability

Recent legislation included big increases in federal funding for the deployment of broadband, which is increasingly critical to daily life, but unavailable in some areas. Our analysis found that thousands more skilled workers will be needed to deploy broadband and 5G funded by recent federal programs. If this work is spread over 10 years, the funding would support about 23,000 additional workers at its peak. A shorter timespan could require even more of them. We found mixed evidence on whether there's a shortage of these workers. Their unemployment rate was low, but we didn't observe wages going up in this area, which would suggest a shortage. GAO found that thousands of additional workers would be needed to build the amount of infrastructure associated with such increases in funding from eight selected broadband infrastructure deployment programs. GAO found that the pace at which these programs provide funding will impact the annual number of additional workers needed. For instance, if funding is provided over a 10-year span, GAO estimates that about 23,000 additional workers could be supported by the peak year of funding in 2023, declining to about 9,000 additional workers in 2031 due to the impact of inflation and because funds for some programs must be expended before 2032. The shorter the time frame over which federal funds are provided, the more workers will be needed per year. Assuming a 5-year funding time period, for example, about 34,000 additional workers would be needed by the peak year of funding in 2023.