With government-backed builds to more than a million locations on its plate and the debut of DOCSIS 4.0 looming, Charter Communications is looking to beef up its field staff with more than 600 new technicians across its 41-state footprint. The operator is aiming to jumpstart hiring this week with a virtual event which will allow prospective employees to interview with recruiters in 30 states.
According to Charter’s job listing, Field Technicians are responsible for installing its cable, TV, internet and voice services in customers’ homes and resolving cable and internet issues in the field. The operator is offering a starting wage of $20 per hour for the position, with recruiters in some states sweetening the deal with additional perks. Employees are being tempted with a $1,000 sign-on bonus in California, Idaho, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, Vermont and Wisconsin, while other states are touting the position’s access to a company car with free gas.
"This Field Technician National Hiring Day is really about taking a creative approach to building up our frontline technician staff," a Charter representative told Fierce. "We’re encouraging candidates in a number of markets around the country to sign up for a virtual interview on Thursday the 15th, and we will be making some immediate offers."
Though not directly tied to its government-backed projects, Charter’s hiring push comes as it gears up to complete federally funded builds in more than two dozen states. The company has ten years to connect more than 1 million locations across 24 states using support it won in 2020’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) auction. It has also won more than $200 million in state grants so far this year to connect more than 66,000 unserved locations across 10 states. Additional grant-funded builds could follow, as states begin making awards using money from the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) in the coming years.
The operator is also testing DOCSIS 4.0 technology with an eye toward upgrading its network in the future. Fellow cable player Comcast has said it plans to rollout DOCSIS 4.0 in its network in 2023, though is planning to pursue a different version of the technology than Charter is. Charter's timeline for its own DOCSIS 4.0 rollout is unclear.
Charter isn’t alone in looking to strengthen its workforce. AT&T’s careers page shows it is looking to hire more than 200 installation technicians across its footprint, with the most openings available in Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia. Meanwhile, Frontier Communications has around 150 openings for fiber network field techs. Comcast currently has around 45 listings posted for residential installation and service technicians.
Last year, Windstream announced plans to hire 1,000 new employees to fuel its fiber build. Executives told Fierce earlier this year that hiring spree was expected to be complete by the end of Q2.