From Wall Street to Main Street, the broadband industry plays a critical role in American life. By both creating new jobs and simplifying the job-search process, broadband has had a positive impact on employment for Americans nationwide.
The tremendous capital investment in network infrastructure has generated thousands of jobs in both the information and communications technology (ICT) and non-ICT industries. The data demonstrates broadband’s status as a source of inspiration that can help drive U.S. innovation, competitiveness and prosperity even through challenging economic times.
On an individual level, broadband has facilitated the average job search. Access to job listings, the resume submission process, and comparative salary analysis are just a few examples of the information-exchange broadband provides.
Broadband-Enabled Jobs
| Industry Statistic | Source | ||
| Employment in Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industries and ICT-Related Occupations in Non-ICT Industries (millions of jobs) | 10.8 million | Mid-2010 | USTelecom, BLS |
| ICT Industries | 6.3 million | Mid-2010 | USTelecom, BLS |
| Broadband Industries – Wireline, Cable, Wireless, Reseller, Satellite | 910 thousand | Mid-2010 | USTelecom, BLS |
| Other Industries | 5.4 million | Mid-2010 | USTelecom, BLS |
| ICT-Related Occupations in Non-ICT Industries | 4.5 Million | Mid-2010 | USTeelcom, BLS |
Detailed Breakout: Jobs – USNon-Farm Wage Salary Employment 2010
Broadband and ICT Mean Wage Comparison
| Industry Statistic | Source | ||
| ICT Industries (6.3 million jobs) | 52% over national average | Mid-2010 | USTelecom, BLS |
| Broadband Industries (91,000 jobs) | 33% over national average | Mid-2010 | USTelecom, BLS |
Telecommunications Industry Jobs, Mean Wages, and % Over National Average Wage, 2010
| Telecom Industry | Jobs | Mean Wage | % Over National Mean |
| Wired (Wirline & Cable) | 612,000 | $28.55 | 34% |
| Wireline (’10 Est. Range) | ~432,000 – 455,000± (71% – 74%) |
~$31± | ~44% – 45% |
| Cable (’10 Est. Range) | ~157,000 – 180,000± (26% – 29%) |
~$23± | ~5% – 6% |
| Wireless | 170,000 | $27.17 | 27% |
| Reseller and Other | 117,000 | $29.74 | 40% |
| Satellite | 11,000 | $31.72 | 48% |
| Total Telecom | 910,000 | $28,48** | 33% |
Wireline employs approximately half of telecom sector employees and wages are ~45% above average.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics and USTelecom Analysis. The data are based on BLS Occupational Employment Statistics surveys and are not ideally suited for time series comparisons. However, we used 2007 data to make certain estimates for 2010. In particular, as of 2008, BLS reports wireline telecommunications and cable operators on a combined basis. Therefore we can only estimate the 2010 employees and wages for the two subsectors; and we do so based on the approximate proportions of employees (76% wireline telecom, 24% cable) and hourly wages ($28.71 wireline telecom, $21.05 cable) in 2007, the last year in which they were reported separately. We ran scenarios in which wireline telecom retains the same or a smaller share of employees relative to cable and the rest of the telecom industry. * Excludes Cable Programming employees. ** Weighted average by employees