The personal communications services industry is buzzing with discussions of technology, the consumer, equipment infrastructure, merging, financing, site acquisition, capitalization, innovation, deregulation, litigation and the list goes on.
However, the tremendous job market opening up in PCS and affiliated businesses has been understated. PCS companies are hiring personnel from cellular competitors, recent graduates, computer scientists and some from outside the industry altogether. And when there’s no one left to hire, they hire recruitment firms to hire people, said Bob White, president of Pennington Consulting Group.
“The demand is much greater than the supply,” he commented, referring to the wireless industry in its entirety. With five or six new PCS systems going into each market, White added, the PCS industry obviously is in need of new employees.
“The [wireless] industry is experiencing a critical shortage of qualified personnel to build out the markets,” said SBA Inc., a site acquisition and development firm for wireless companies. “There are no signs of change anytime soon.” In efforts to meet the demand of his business, SBA Presient and Chief Executive Officer Steven Bernstein recruits people with prior wireless, real estate, construction management, sales and management experience and provides on-the-job training.
One wireless industry executive in London noted U.S. companies are searching for Europeans with experience in successfully building and operating personal communications networks there.
In the past 12 years, the wireless telecommunications industry has directly created more than 60,000 jobs, according to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association-another 6,770 in the first half of this year.
While PCS companies are building out their networks, filling technical positions is the first priority. Most dominant in this area are various engineering jobs including field, radio frequency, computer software, design and antenna/tower site engineers. Project managers and frequency planners also are in strong demand, said White.
As systems are developed, companies’ recruiting emphasis will shift to operating positions, predicted White. These jobs include accounting, billing, marketing, sales, customer service and others.
R. Woody Daroca, president of Human Resource Solutions in Denver, agreed. Technical jobs comprise one pocket of heavy recruiting, while marketing, finance and accounting jobs are included in another pocket, likely on the verge of heavy demand. Daroca, who is involved in job recruiting as well as employee retention, noted PCS companies are looking beyond industry boundaries for new hires, notably in sales and marketing positions. Aiming at the consumer market, companies may decide to hire people who understand customers’ preferences and buying patterns in the marketplace rather than seek people whose career experience is specifically in the wireless industry.
While the positions mentioned are directly related to the business of PCS, affiliated jobs also are abundant. Real estate agents will benefit from the number of PCS newcomers arriving in town. Site acquisition specialists and zoning planners are in need, as demonstrated by the difficulties providers are encountering as they try to erect tower sites. Among others indirectly involved in PCS’ market entrance are construction companies, investment bankers, consultants, lawyers, retailers and advertising and public relations firms.
And new alliances also are taking place. For example, Lockard & White Inc. a Houston-based telecommunications engineering firm, teamed up with Keller & Heckman, a Washington, D.C., law firm, to provide technical and legal counsel for microwave incumbents dealing with PCS players taking their place at 2 GHz.
