Companies Assessing Effects of Omicron Absenteeism

Communications companies, like those in other sectors, are feeling the effects of the COVID-19 surge brought on by the omicron variant, experts said. How much omicron could slow 5G buildout or have other effects may not be known for several weeks. The U.S. is adding almost 700,000 reported cases daily.

The tower and wireless technician worker shortage “has been well chronicled and [National Association of Tower Erectors] and other associations are investing heavily in workforce development initiatives to help move the needle,” Todd Schlekeway, NATE president, told us. “I am sure omicron will impact workers in the industry, like it is impacting all sectors, but … it would be speculative at best for me to predict what the impact will be at this time.”

“Anecdotally, we hear reports of significant immediate-term impacts, such as some companies moving office employees to remote work and apparent slowdowns in approvals for new contracts and permits,” said Jonathan Adelstein, Wireless Infrastructure Association president: “Infections and quarantines that accompany this spike in cases magnify an already tight labor market.” WIA is focused on addressing worker shortages through its Telecommunications Industry Registered Apprenticeship Program and Telecommunications Education Center, Adelstein said. “Addressing the underlying shortage of skilled labor now can help us better weather these types of problems.”

The main businesses affected are those where people have to work closely together, said John Strand of Strand Consult. That could mean challenges for the carriers’ retail stores, plus workers who handle maintenance and installation of telecom lines, he said. For wireless, the biggest challenge is for carrier stores, said Recon Analytics’ Roger Entner. Spokespersons for the major carriers had no comment.

Broadcast industry officials told us omicron hasn’t caused any more change for their work than previous COVID-19 strains. “We have all the same protocols that we had before,” said Cromwell Group President Bayard Walters. Coast to Coast Tower Service President Todd Jackson said it hasn’t had an effect on tower work. “It’s not business as usual, but business continues,” said George Reed, owner of broadcaster Monticello Media and a broker for Media Services group.

Reed and Walters said an increasing number of employees are getting COVID-19 or reporting exposures, but since their companies are already used to operating with increased teleworking and coronavirus safety measures, employees having to work from home isn’t as disruptive as the initial March 2020 lockdown. Walters said some of his on-air staff have been broadcasting from home for months. “It really hasn’t had much of an impact” on the company's work, he said.

“We know this is a trend, we know this is happening” with transportation the first industry to be hit hard, said James Bailey, George Washington University professor of leadership development. Parts of the sector where people can’t do their jobs remotely will be the hardest hit, he said. “In two or three weeks … people will have enough data to look at this.”

“It is not so much omicron itself but the reaction to it by governments and employers” that could affect employment, said Dan Bowling, senior lecturing fellow at Duke Law School. “Workers are confused about what rules and regulations apply and where regarding vaccine mandates, testing requirements, masking, religious exceptions. … The more barriers we create to re-entering the workforce the worse the worker shortage becomes."

Media and communications job postings on Indeed are up 65.9% compared with the pre-pandemic baseline, as of Dec. 31, which is similar to the economy in general, emailed Indeed economist AnnElizabeth Konkel: “As the pandemic drags on, employers continue to have to hunt to find the workers they need.” Konkel noted that Friday’s federal employment report highlighted that “1.1 million persons were prevented from looking for work due to the pandemic” in December. “The omicron surge is still ongoing, so it’s difficult to estimate its full labor market impact,” she said. The U.S. added just 199,000 jobs in December, in part because of omicron.

NAB told us it's “teleworking full-time” due to the “post-holiday surge,” but will return to hybrid telework when cases in the Washington, D.C., area subside. “Our staff are well-positioned to smoothly transition between telework and in office work as needed,” NAB said.

Omicron slowdowns on retail and spending could trickle down to advertisers and thus broadcasters, but so far it's too early to tell, said BIA Advisory Services Chief Economist Mark Fratrik. With supply chain disruptions, it's difficult to know how much of a possible slowdown can be pinned on omicron, he said. Broadcast deals and station trades were slow before the omicron surge, said Reed. “I suspect some people are staying at home, but they are also still spending money,” Fratrik said. “We’re not seeing everything shut down,” as happened initially in the pandemic, Reed said.