April/May/June 2020 I 59
THE ICT TALENT SHORTAGE
By Randal R. Reusser, RCDD, TECH, CT
The only time most people give a thought to the ICT industry is when their devices are not working. That is
a sentiment shared by many ICT industry professionals. Many people do not even know ICT jobs exist. They do
not understand the industry. It just never appears on their radar.
Unemployment rates across the U.S. and even in some international markets are near historic lows, so why
do not more individuals enter the ICT field? Perhaps, no one sees what is behind the curtain. "No one grows up
wanting to be a low voltage technician. Plumber, electrician, carpenter, yes! But not a low voltage tech." Those
are the sentiments of Todd Green, the branch manager of technology systems at Systems Technology, a division
of Pieper Power. Green has been in the industry for 35 years. "I got here by default. I was working at a gas
station when cable first came about. I started seeing cable trucks come in and I started asking questions. Pretty
soon I was putting in outside plant cable, and in 1984 my employer asked if I would like to work with fiber
optics. I was good at terminating cables, and I just excelled from there."
