Will fiber optic cable maintenance workers lose their jobs

America's fiber-optic buildout may be hitting a labor crisis. As demand for fiber cables surges amid data center expansion and an influx in federal funding for broadband internet, the industry can't find enough skilled workers to keep up, The Wall Street Journal reports. With 178,000 positions unfilled by 2032, the labor crisis threatens to delay both universal broadband access and the AI revolution that depends on it. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $42. 5 billion for broadband deployment through the BEAD program. State. Most fiber techs are the workers who install the fiber optic cable, underground, aerial or indoors. [pdf]