With COVID-19 there have been significant challenges for us all – across every aspect of our lives. For young people it has also created a lot of uncertainty for their employment options and future opportunities. With this in mind, the SubOptic Association is working to establish ways to reinvigorate the subsea and telecom industries and enable strategic internship and mentorship programs for rising graduates and new members of the global workforce.
This is an important initiative that is also near and dear to the NJFX team. NJFX General Manager, Felix Seda and Business Development Manager, Sarah Kurtz – both millennials – are assisting in SubOptic’s efforts to encourage young talent to join the telecommunications workforce, specifically in the subsea space. After spearheading the Millennials in Telecom reception at PTC 2020, Seda sought to expand the initiative, leading him to work within the Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (“DIB”) working group of the SubOptic Association.
“We are working with the many talented people in the SubOptic Association to rebuild these programs in a way that will help broaden our outreach and expand the pool of young leaders exploring our rewarding and unique industry,” says Seda. “Internships are a great way for people still in college to find their career path post-grad, and we do not want the state of the world to get in the way of that.”
The SubOptic Association is also working on building and launching their mentorship program, which connects young professionals with more experienced mentors to guide them in the beginning stages of their careers.
“We value the work being done by the entire SubOptic membership and working groups to raise awareness on the importance of bringing more people to the industry and attracting new organizations,” commented Erick Contag, Executive Chairman of GlobeNet and President of the Executive Committee of SubOptic. “We are fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated team of people working on these important and worthy initiatives.”
We applaud the efforts by SubOptic and NJFX to better prepare our younger generation for rewarding careers in the subsea and telecom space. Click HERE to learn more about Felix and Sarah’s initiatives.
