The Future of the Telecoms Workforce

I became involved with the PTC after attending the conference for Subsea Cloud last January. I was placed on the advisory council and worked on the Beyond Initiative most of 2022. The goal of the initiative was simple enough: get young people looking toward and involved in the telecoms industry (using PTC as a conduit). Whilst we faced some constraints in terms of budget and other resources, all seven of us involved felt Millennial and Zoomer engagement was not only possible, but could be positive and impactful for the conference, the participants and the industry as a whole (sounds lofty, but we were optimistic).

Confined to the backdrop of a business conference, we set out to design and execute the best program we possibly could... It was made a lot easier than these things generally are given the conference is hosted in Hawaii, is well respected, well attended and well rounded. In the end, the Beyond program included:

• 'Zellennials' Welcome Cocktail
• Young Professional Panel
• C-Level Roundtables:?360° view of the future digital ecosystem
• Junior Top Dog Networking Cruise
• Buzz Session
• DRFortress Datacenter Visit
• Emerging Scholar Session

This post will largely cover the Young Professional Panel, which explored some of the issues we see around engaging and retaining young people in our industry.

The Generations We Were Talking To and About

Millennials and Generation Z, born between 1981 and 2012, started tech careers during a decade-long expansion in which jobs multiplied extremely quickly. The companies hiring were defying economic rules previously held. Perks were introduced leading to even more interest in the jobs – things like free transport to work, free meals, free childcare and even laundry and healthcare amenities were included. In this way the perks actually constituted a lifestyle. However, more recently there've been mass layoffs with tech not managing to support such a large workforce in the current climate.

In the year 2021, 17 million layoffs were recorded from all the industries in the US; 2.12 million layoffs were recorded in business and professional services in the year 2022; 40,474 tech jobs were cut in January 2023 alone (from just 151 different companies); 61% of adults between the age of 18 to 34 reported that they dealt with tremendous pressure and lay-off anxiety.

The majority of the two generations in question have never experienced widespread layoffs, unlike the Baby boomers and members of Generation X, born between 1946 and 1980, who lived through one of the biggest contractions any industry has ever seen: The dot-com crash of the early 2000s.

On the other hand, AFCOM's State of the Data Center?report?indicates that well over 70% of telecoms companies are actively try to entice young people into their organizations. And they’re also getting increasingly creative with some organizations offering free continued education, flexible and remote working options, and even meal accounts and gym memberships. It doesn't seem to be enough to draw younger people into the industry though. There are mass shortages in all sectors.

So where's the gap? Why can't we hire quickly enough? To be honest, there are probably a few gaps, but the two I concentrated on as a panelist were (1) exposure and awareness: where the pipeline should start in order to reach younger generations and (2) how we are perceived (the telecom PR conundrum).

Some of the Problems

• The telecoms industry is seen as the tech industry's less glamorous cousin - it's not flashy, fun or bold; we are viewed as more responsible and staid (as stated to me by my intern)
• We've been established for the entire lifespan of these last two generations (they don't think about us; we are completely taken for granted)
• We are viewed as a low-risk low-reward industry
• We do not advertise our perks as well as the tech industry
• We do not advertise our constituent parts well at all (cables, cable security, subsea engineering, offshore operations, seabed exploration, design engineering, acquisition management, fiber optics and tech integration, etc.)

Ultimately, we do not have enough visibility; Where we have visibility, we are not immediately appealing (in the way tech, for example, is).

At the risk of sounding redundant, we know that the telecoms industry has two categories of PR problems:

1. Mainstream media doesn't cover us the way it does tech;
2. When we are covered, we don't sound exciting/rewarding/innovative (for the most part).

But, we also know that as the tech industry grows and spreads, data grows and spreads. This means we will continue to grow in both size and–hopefully–appetite for change. Looked at this way, PR is not an everlasting problem. Sure, we have to make ourselves into a louder voice for the mainstream (accomplished through internal outreach initiatives and other strategies) and showcase the pros of working in this industry, but given our trajectory, that doesn't seem Sisyphean.

To accelerate as forecast, we need a young workforce. The telecoms industry is relied upon more heavily now than before and that reliance is increasing. Moreover, the industry as a whole has slowly morphed into one where skill with technology is more important than manual labor or pure historical knowledge. Young people—who are highly tech savvy—are well suited to fill this role. We simply have to do enough to entice them to our neck of the woods. But how is the question.

Some of the solutions

Ultimately the goal is to attract, engage and retain a new, vibrant, competent workforce. The activities to get us there center around becoming more vocal about?what?we all do and?why?it matters.?Young professionals can’t enter an industry of which they are not aware.?If we evangelized our industry and described the benefits in tangible ways (like the tech industry has managed to do) then, in all probability, what we've all built (and what is completely taken for granted today), would seem interesting to young people.

Of the first order, we need to collectively work on early exposure to younger generations. There are multiple, frictionless ways to start, with PTC, DCD and iMasons all running academies and all having outreach capabilities. We could all do better to get the word out on them, working internally and in our communities.

As important as where we reach people is how early we start. If we are attempting to engage young people then earlier is better with strategies for high school and college courses abound.

We should also look to the places where these two generations spend time and–fortunately or unfortunately–that's on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, according to Insider Intelligence.

We can also look toward other industries that are slowing in terms of employment opportunities. The offshore industry being a prime candidate for sourcing technically qualified people whose skill sets can adapt and whose appetite for future-proofing their careers is high.

After promoting awareness, a next step is likely working on what's appealing about this industry. The aim is to show these two generations that our industry does offer rewarding career paths (important for a generation not content with the old humdrum 9-to-5 model). Most all companies and sectors are re-evaluating what a rewarding career amounts to in today's world and we shouldn't be last to perform this analysis.

More solutions:

• As Stacie Pascale mentioned on the panel: the next generation consumes information differently from previous generations. "An example being the primary job search engines outside of family and friends is YouTube and social media." Stacie also said that having 20 years experience isn't necessary to have ideas worth listening to – "We have to give new generations a seat at the table." She also made the point on the panel that how we interview and engage people is changing with some companies using VR to perform interviews and show locations.
• As Shannon McMann mentioned: "Raising awareness for these two generations about how the industry will bridge the digital divide is important – it's something meaningful they could be a part of." She noted there are "underserved rural communities that don't have access to cellular networks, Wi-Fi" or even hardware and went on to say, "Our industry exists to connect people, places and things. These generations know how important a connected world is and we need to get them excited about being a driver of that change by joining our industry."
• As Felix Seda says: "it's about representation, education and empowerment" for young people. He reckons it comes down to "having the chance to grow and getting a seat at the table and a voice, figuratively and literally." For him, having trust and showing trust in the upcoming generations is very important, indicating he thinks it engenders overall progress.
• Nico Grove talked at length and with clarity on the importance of work-life balance. He suggested that it is important to have but it's not–and cannot–become a way of slacking, resulting in other team members doing far more of the work and getting far less of an opportunity to find their own work-life balance. There's an opportunity to set expectations among younger gen's as they enter so that the industry and our respective companies can adjust but not deteriorate.
• Isabelle Paradis believes we have to take action everyday to close the talent gap and make a difference in our industry and to support those already in it. She thinks we should "highlight their successes" alongside giving the younger and older gen's a "fair seat at the table so we can all participate in creating the future." This, she says, is crucial.
• Naaz Bax had a thoughtful comment on the difference between the older and younger generations that resulted in a feeling of gratitude that younger generations can speak up now. As she said, "young leaders can speak up now. For some of us, it has taken a long time to have a seat at the table," and she sees a connection between the older generation's struggle (and in particular women's struggles) and the next generation's louder voice: "We have, hopefully, helped forge a path for this generation." Something that's imperative we keep doing. Naaz was and is often vocal about many related issues, including reverse mentorship. Noting that reverse mentorship is a good way for the two sides to meet in the middle and understand what's important on each side.

Undeniably, and reiterated in conversations post-panel, people of all generations were interested and engaged on the topic. As Naaz Bax said, "People recognize that the time is now for us to make these changes and are genuinely invested in the process."

Finally, if the pipeline is to start as early as possible then that is in schools. Building new programs such as interdisciplinary minors as options for undergraduate education is a vital way to drive interest for the students and prepare them for entry-level positions at companies in need of young talent.? Working with even younger students in fun and even digital ways is also a good step forward.

In doing this, we can start to highlight the industry as one in which a rewarding and sustainable career path is viable. I think both early awareness and visibility are crucial to alleviating current and future workforce shortages.?All of the suggested solutions above are the some of the activities to achieve this outcome. It's not an exhaustive list and it's not the only way to look at the problem, but all of us a PTC, and many of us throughout the industry, are passionate about ways we can help close the gap. If you have other ideas, we'd love to hear them.

Special thanks to PTC for the chance to work on this initiative, and to the team mentioned above plus Gary Kim & Sharon Nakama for their special assistance and to Sean Bergin for his continued efforts in getting the PTC Academy out into the world to help make a difference.

We all look forward to bringing an even more immersive, fun and impactful Beyond Initiative to PTC next year.