Telecommunications Training and Workforce Development Best Practices Checklist
The Telecommunications Training and Workforce Development Best Practices Checklist supports Eligible Entities as they evaluate existing workforce development programs and determine the initiatives, programs, and efforts needed to ensure an available and highly skilled telecommunications workforce. While most programs will not check every box, this checklist can help compare programs in consideration to meet their workforce goals and objectives as Broadband, Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) partners, including recruitment, retention, and advancement efforts, workforce training and development activities, and organizational partnership activities.
Additional Resources
Below is a collection of workforce development-related guides, best practices, and resources to help communities, states, and territories as they identify their needs and develop their plans.
Building Pathways to Infrastructure Careers: Framework for Preparing an Infrastructure Workforce
Framework for workforce stakeholders to implement the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with strong workforce commitments and proven strategies that produce high-quality education, training, and employment opportunities for all workers.
Workforce Data by State; Guide to Data
Data provided by the Department of Labor (DOL) on various workforce metrics, including unemployment rates, employment and earnings by occupations, and access to leave, which can inform a workforce development and training approach.
Workforce Development Board Finder
Guide to help locate Workforce Development Boards that direct federal, state, and local funding to workforce development programs. Eligible Entities, contractors, and subcontractors can use Workforce Development Boards to locate funding opportunities for workforce development programs and better understand the workforce program landscape in a state or region.
American Job Centers
Federal program with offices nationwide that offer support to job seekers for a variety of career and employment-related needs, including training opportunities. Eligible Entities, contractors, and subcontractors can use American Job Centers as resources and partners in developing recruitment strategies.
Prevailing Wage Information and Resources
Resources from the Department of Labor (DOL) on calculating prevailing wage rates. Eligible Entities, contractors, and subcontractors can use this resource to understand local prevailing wage rates to meet workforce requirements and guidance laid out in the Internet For All program Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs).
Reference Guide for Fair Labor Standards Act
Reference guide to the sections of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Eligible Entities, contractors, and subcontractors can use this resource to understand federal workforce legal requirements.
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Workforce Programs
List of Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) programs administered by the Department of Labor. WIOA programs provide career and training services, such as job search assistance, workforce preparation, and career development services, and can help businesses find the skilled workforce they need.
Joint Communication on Guidance to States on Addressing the Workforce Needs and Safety of the Telecommunications Industry
Joint resource from the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on the workforce development opportunities associated with additional high-speed Internet and wireless telecommunications investment.
Minority Business Development Agency Programs/Business Centers
List of Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) Business Centers, which can offer support to minority-owned firms seeking to penetrate new markets and growing in size and scale. MBDA Business Centers can help minority-owned firms identify a strategic workforce partnership, secure capital to fund programs and initiatives, and compete for telecommunications contracts.
Contracting Guide
List of state and local Small Business Administration (SBA) offices, which can offer support for connecting with small businesses. Eligible Entities can use this resource and other SBA materials to develop an approach to contracting with small businesses.