Proponents of broadband funding from the stimulus package often cite the promise of good-paying jobs that will rise out of “shovel-ready” projects, including the development of broadband infrastructure.  One high-tech consultant projects about 10,000 jobs will grow out of broadband spending from the stimulus bill over the next five years.

A job often cited in the building of infrastructure is the $25-an-hour backhoe operator digging trenches to install fiber optic cable. However, not everyone is handy with a Komatsu or Caterpillar, and there are only so many of those shovel-ready jobs available. There are other jobs, such as those in the following categories, which will require skills and training:

•     Laborers to install fiber optic lines and/or wireless broadband components;
•    Technicians to set up equipment or assist remote users in setting up equipment;
•    Programmers and administrators – in addition to the existing people in place;
•    Instructors and trainers for new users and new equipment;
•    Manufacturers of fiber optics lines, connectors and equipment;
•    Manufacturers of routers and other wireless equipment.

In addition to lobbying for favorable conditions in executing the stimulus spending, smart companies are preparing to meet the anticipated need for brain and muscle. Intel, Qwest, Google and Microsoft are among companies quoted as shaping their hiring mechanisms based on broadband expansion plans in the stimulus package.

One initiative to jump-start worker training is Microsoft Elevate America, a program to train 2 million Americans in Windows-based skills for the office. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist said the Elevate Miami program in his state shows that public-private partnerships can work. “We have worked with Microsoft for years in Miami to bring technology training to underserved populations,” he said.

The curriculum - no surprise - is Microsoft-centric, but the point of the program is to give employers and employees a guide on learning the ropes of technology, often collaborating with a local community college or university.

Microsoft’s ICT Curriculum Roadmap features color-coded pathways that will look oddly familiar to users of public transit systems – there’s even a loop (but only on the green line).

The map directs you to the training that Microsoft thinks you will need to qualify for specific jobs such as Web/Windows Developer, Enterprise Administrator or Support Technician (after a quick side trip on the Green Loop), among other areas of expertise. To view roadmap: ict_curriculum_roadmap

“A lot of the tech jobs are highly skilled, new emerging jobs,” said OneCommunity President and CEO Scot Rourke.  “We just don’t have an industry yet.”

Clearly, opportunities await. We welcome your thoughts on job prospects you see on the horizon, and the challenge of training workers to meet future demands.

For more information on the subject, check out the following articles:

Wireless jobs

The Standard

The Hill

Microsoft plan

Tags: bandwidth, broadband, digital, infrastructure, Knight Center of Digital Excellence, Knight Center of Digital Excellence Resource Center, OneCommunity, recovery.gov, Scot Rourke