SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- San Diego employers will create more than 50,000 new jobs by 2030 due to the proliferation of 5G technology, according to a new study.
The study, from trade association CTIA, says 5G will lead to more jobs directly via new infrastructure and engineering, as well as the growth of fields that will benefit from the faster connectivity. Those include retail, finance, manufacturing and travel.
"By delivering faster speeds, lower latency, and higher reliability, 5G will spur additional activity across consumer, industrial, and public domains," the study says.
Heather Ace, Qualcomm's chief human resources officer, said upwards of 80 percent of the positions the company is adding are related to 5G. She said the technology would spur a wide range of growth.
"If you think about it, that's things like connected cars, which we read a lot about in the news. It's things like the Internet of Things," she said. "You think about even the pandemic and how much we have had to the tele-medicine, and remote patient monitoring. 5G is really the technology that fuels all those changes and certainly lots of industry change that we're not even contemplating."
The study predicts 52,700 new jobs in San Diego County by 2030, with $20.2 billion in GDP growth.
Stephanie Cragg, an Oceanside resident, enrolled at San Diego Code School to seek a career change after 10 years working in a dental office.
"At that time, I was coding on my own, just kind of doing little things on the side," she said. "I decided, hey, if I had to wake up to go anywhere to do anything every day i don't mind what I get paid as long as it's solving hard problems."
The City of San Diego says it is working with all the carriers to deploy 5G service signals citywide. Currently, the strongest signals are in downtown and Mission Valley.
