There is a pressing need for businesses to attract and use the skilled labour necessary to implement the new technology with the rollout of 5G. Companies need to ensure that their fibre technologies and power delivery networks are in place to handle 100 to 400 Gbps devices made feasible by the latest telecom’s standard. If they do not, then they are in danger of falling behind.
The current workforce isn’t up to the task in most businesses. Moreover, companies don’t always know the sort of people they need to build their systems. Job descriptions are dated and there is a lack of understanding of how fundamentally the new technology differs from that of the old.
The fact that there is, as yet, not enough skilled labour to go around, compounds the issue. Building an extensive 5G network is a massive undertaking, but it is a challenge to find employees to make it possible. For many companies, even finding people to update and maintain existing infrastructure is a significant problem, let alone finding the necessary labour to roll out an entirely new and upgraded infrastructure. Funnelling resources for 5G capability development is a luxury that very few can afford in the industry.
However, the IT Field Engineer’s online freelance worker platform, as you will learn below, is part of the solution.
What is 5G & Why does it require so much labour to implement?
Part of the issue of labour shortages is related to the basic nature of technology. In comparison with the old 4G standard, 5G uses a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. While the change allows data rates to rise, it also means that 5G antennas cannot communicate with devices over distances greater than 500 feet, compared to a typical 4G tower’s 45 miles of coverage. Thus, as a part of the rollout, there is a need to install many more individual devices.
There’s also the problem of the high attenuation rate of 5G. Workers not only need to place 5G antennas on every corner of the street, but they also need to do so in a manner that does not cause interference and penetrates large building interiors. In some locations, solving both problems simultaneously will prove to be a significant challenge.
Therefore, the new system’s labour demands are much higher than the old ones. Instead of larger regions, companies need engineers who can install 5G antennas on every block.
So what can companies do to prepare their 5G workers, given this predicament?
The first thing they can do is adopt strategies that allow them to re-educate employees. With the changing telecommunications standards, there is a need for continuing education, business mobility opportunities, and recertification.
To accommodate 5G, companies also need to develop their pool of skilled labour. One of the ways they can do that is through internal programs for education. Companies can update their employees with the right educational practices to understand the new technology and give them the skills they need to install it on a large scale while being sensitive to each carrier’s needs.
The options available to companies do not, of course, end with their regular workforce. While there is a training role, there is also the opportunity to hire temporary engineers to help with the rollout of freelance on-demand engineering platforms, such as IT Field Engineers. To help them complete their 5G projects, including engineers, researchers, and technicians, companies often need a variety of people with different skills. Temporary workers can provide companies with the support they need to harmonize their existing back-end and cloud-based systems with 5G connectivity.
The Impact Of 5G On Business Operations & The World
A critical part of 21st-century life is mobile data. Local governments, businesses, and consumers all want mobile communications lightning-fast, wherever they happen to be. 5G promises to enable individuals to check their Facebook status, send their boss to work, and send remote workers instructions faster and more efficiently than ever before.
What’s exciting about 5G, though, is that it’s not just a 4G development, but a real step-change that will open up a whole slew of new use-cases that will propel the economy into the future.
The fourth industrial revolution, for example, is dependent on the creation of integrated systems. 5G communication protocols that slash latencies will enable elements in the value chain to interact over vast distances in real time with each other. The role of technology will be as important as that of 3D printing and the web of things. It will transform how businesses work and, hopefully, increase the economy’s overall output. For example, 5G could be the technology that drives the adoption, over the next decade, of automation improvements that generate capital and labour productivity. For all involved, it’s a huge opportunity.
5G will also enhance entertainment for mobile media by bringing it up to 5G speeds. When within the range of a 5G antenna, consumers will experience lower latency, higher bandwidth, higher video resolutions, and faster load speeds. Data rates can also allow data-intensive applications such as VR and AR without the need to connect systems to existing terrestrial fibre and broadband links. For example, when they travel around the urban environment, consumers could have images piped through to their smart glasses.
However, 5G’s promise is not limited to customers and smart cities. There is also a forecast that technology will also make its way into agriculture (Ag) to become more efficient through integrated sensor networks. In order to deliver targeted pesticides, Ag companies will be able to get real-time data about their crops and perhaps even use 5G to direct automated drones.
How do IT Field Engineers Enable 5G Deployment?
While 5G’s promise is fabulous, companies need qualified employees who can do the heavy lifting to make it happen. Through its online job marketplace, IT Field Engineers is helping to ease the labour constraints of companies by providing on-demand 5G freelance engineers. Companies can use the platform to complement engineers with their existing employees, giving them the ability to deploy 5G and maintain their existing, legacy networks.