Preparing for Workforce Challenges With Better FTTx Installation Training
In the late 1990s, fiber for the masses was still years away and fiber splicing technicians were akin to astronauts. There were few of them who worked with very environmentally sensitive and specialized devices; training came more by experience than by textbooks. Oftentimes, they forged their way through each unique installation one at a time. These optical technicians were proven copper/coax technicians who were tapped mid-career because they demonstrated the skill, tenacity, and methodology, to do what it took to get things perfect.
Flash forward ahead to today. These “Senior” technicians who led the way, as well as many of those they trained, are retiring in large numbers, leaving an ever-growing drain on the skilled optical technician workforce. Combine this with the exponential increase in fiber deployments by service providers of all types –Telcos, MSOs, Utilities, Municipalities, Contractors, and Private Carriers — all of these network providers are finding themselves in competition to deploy a highly skilled fiber-savvy workforce. It’s no wonder the skilled fiber-tech resource pool is very shallow if not empty.
Read the entire article by Dave Schuman, America Ilsintech’s Director of Broadband Markets, US and Canadain in the Digital ISE Magazine.
