Jeremy Ehrgott, field services lead coordinator for Staff
Electric similarly ended up in the industry without ever
choosing it as a career path. “I'm actually a journeyman
electrician by trade. Because I had the background and
the proficiency in some of the other systems work, like
fire alarm, access control, and paging, I kind of got sucked
into it. And I've been doing it ever since. So I guess it was
the right place, right time.”
There is a need for significantly more individuals
to enter or advance in the ICT field. A rudimentary study
on open ICT-related positions across the U.S. (Table 1)
shows a staggering amount of opportunities for individuals
looking for positions but serious room for concern for
companies needing to fill those positions.
According to a recent salary and wage survey study,
“engineers with the BICSI RCDD earn 5 percent more
($104,780) than those without ($99,543). For those in
the ‘other’ category, the difference is 17 percent ($98,593
with the RCDD, $84,209 without). RCDDs in general
management positions are compensated 23 percent
more ($126,73 average) than those without the credential
($103,067). And project managers with the RCDD
are compensated 26 percent more ($106,985) than
project managers without the RCDD ($85,242).”1
There is no end in sight for the booming ICT job market.
The same technological advancements that can cause
waves of layoff fear in some industries actually create ICT
jobs. Matt Hay, a safety and training manager at CC&N
claims that the rapid advancements are making his job
and his company even more secure. “We were told years
ICT Installed (BICSI: Installer Level I, LEVEL II, Technician) 10,045 $80+
ICT Technician (BICSI Installer Level I, Level II, Technician) 11,615 $85+
Low Voltage Technician (BICSI Installer Level I) 9,608 $85+
ICT Estimator 715 $95+
BICSI Outside Plant Designer (OSP)™ 94,956 $125+
Infrastructure Engineer 62,998 $130+
BICSI Registered Communications Distribution Designer (RCDD)® 9,471 (1,830 RCDD Specific) $138+
BICSI Data Center Design Consultant (DCDC)™ 13,640 $145+
BICSI Registered Telecom Project Manager 10,276 (3,122 Telecom RTPM specific) $150+
TABLE 1: Snapshot of ICT positions and salaries.
60 I ICT TODAY
ago that wireless was going to kill our industry. It was
going to kill us as an organization. We’d hear, ‘You guys,
you're done. You're a wiring company.’ Wireless has been
the best thing that's ever happened to us because everywhere
you put an access point, there are two wires that
go to it.”
As the field rapidly evolves and grows, many companies
are getting creative in order to meet customer demand.
According to Green, “To get projects completed, you have
skilled labor doing overtime; the overtime wasn’t factored
in on the front end. That, obviously, can have a major
impact on the bottom line.”
Ehrgott adds that flexibility is key to getting work done
on time. “We only have so many people who are qualified
and proficient in certain task areas, but somehow we
always make it work. We end up having to play a lot
of chess, if you will, in order to ultimately finish work
and satisfy our customers’ needs.”
DESPERATE TIMES SOMETIMES
CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES
Many companies have tried with limited success to source
workers from temp agencies. One company resorted to
hiring day workers from a homeless shelter to help pull
optical fiber cable. They offered no comment on the outcome,
but sources say the company has not followed
that hiring route again.
Hay believes CC&N has an ace in the hole when it
comes to attracting and retaining workers. He explains,
“We're employee owned. That's a big one. Within a year
This graph represents ICT-related job openings in the United States on July 1, 2019. Numbers are accurate but not all inclusive as there is not a
universal telecom/ICT language to use for job postings and searches. (Information sourced from Indeed.com.)
*Search was broadened to include skills required for position, with and without specific BICSI designation. 7-1-2019
/Indeed.com