The telecom tower climbing workforce has faced layoffs since the fourth quarter of 2025, even as AT&T announced significant hiring for fiber technicians. This disparity highlights a critical challenge within the broader communications infrastructure industry, where one segment experiences growth while another, equally essential, faces contraction. NATE – the Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association – has extended an invitation to AT&T Chairman John Stankey to visit a tower site and observe the realities faced by tower crews firsthand.
The Tale of Two Workforces
AT&T Chairman and CEO John Stankey recently emphasized the importance of human intelligence in building infrastructure, citing the need for skilled workers. He highlighted AT&T’s commitment to hiring, announcing 10,000 broadband construction and fiber technician workers hired over three years, with an additional 3,000 fiber technicians needed this year alone. This initiative is framed as providing "skilled union careers that offer good wages, strong benefits, and the opportunity to build a future." This focus is understandable given the company's expansion in fiber networks.
However, this positive outlook on fiber hiring stands in stark contrast to the experience of the wireless side of the industry. The technicians who climb towers, critical to AT&T’s own network, have been absorbing layoffs over the past year. Tower hiring across U.S. telecom construction fell to its lowest point in twenty years since the fourth quarter of 2025, even as fiber pay continued to climb. This creates a complex situation where two vital components of the same industry are moving in different directions regarding workforce investment and stability.
Understanding the Disparity and Its Impact
The divergence between the fiber and wireless workforces is not just an economic statistic; it has tangible implications for crew leads, safety managers, and the tower climbers themselves. A contracting workforce can lead to increased pressure on existing crews, potentially impacting morale, retention, and even safety practices if companies are forced to cut corners to maintain margins. The source notes that carrier matrix pricing from the Big Three has significantly affected contractor margins, directly leading to layoffs.
The divergence between the fiber and wireless workforces is not just an economic statistic; it has tangible implications for crew leads, safety managers, and the tower climbers themselves.
This situation isn't entirely new. Five years ago, similar projections for a wave of new tower jobs did not materialize, and instead, the tower workforce contracted. This historical context underscores the importance of understanding the on-the-ground realities of the industry, beyond high-level hiring announcements. For crew leads and safety managers, this means maintaining vigilance in resource allocation and ensuring that safety protocols remain paramount, regardless of economic pressures.
NATE's Call for Visibility
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Recognizing this critical imbalance, NATE – the Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association – has extended a direct invitation to AT&T Chairman John Stankey. The association represents the companies and crews that build and maintain the wireless side of AT&T’s network. NATE's specific, low-friction offer is for Stankey to visit an active cell tower construction site.
The purpose of this visit is not for Stankey to climb a tower, but to stand at its base with a contracting company owner and the crew. This would allow him to observe firsthand the demanding disciplines required to install AT&T’s sectors and hear directly about the challenges faced by the workforce, including the impact of declining margins and recent layoffs. FCC commissioners and members of Congress have previously made similar site visits to understand the work involved in governing the industry, suggesting that a carrier chairman would also find the experience valuable. The goal is to ensure that the "human intelligence" building AT&T's network is fully seen and understood across all its critical components.
What This Means for Tower Crews and Safety Managers
For tower crews, crew leads, and safety managers, this industry dialogue underscores several key points:
- Advocacy Matters: The effort by NATE to bring visibility to the tower workforce highlights the importance of industry associations in advocating for the needs and challenges of field personnel. Staying informed and supporting such efforts can help ensure the unique demands of tower work are recognized at the highest levels.
- Maintaining Safety Standards: In times of workforce contraction and economic strain, there can be pressure to do more with less. It is crucial for crew leads and safety managers to uphold rigorous safety standards without compromise. Fall protection, RF awareness, rigging, and electrical safety are non-negotiable, and training aligned with OSHA requirements remains essential.
- Value of Skilled Work: Stankey's own words about human intelligence building infrastructure resonate deeply with the highly skilled and dangerous work performed by tower climbers. Emphasizing the expertise, training, and dedication required for tower work can help reinforce its value, even when hiring numbers in other sectors dominate the headlines.
- Strategic Planning: Crew leads and safety managers must engage in strategic planning to manage resources effectively. This includes optimizing scheduling, ensuring proper equipment maintenance, and continuously investing in high-quality safety training to mitigate risks associated with potential workforce fluctuations. Understanding the broader industry trends, such as carrier pricing impacts on contractor margins, can inform these plans.
The industry relies on both fiber and wireless infrastructure, and the skilled individuals who build and maintain them are equally vital. Ensuring that the contributions and challenges of the entire workforce are seen and supported is critical for the long-term health and safety of the communications infrastructure sector.
