As Carl alludes to - contractors are involved massively in the FTTP build - ie: civils, cabling, splicing and testing.
OR took on 2,500 extra staff last year to also assist with the roll-out programmes, and are taking on an extra 1,000 more this year. There is also a slow, controlled process of gradually moving folk from Copper duties to Fibre as and when it is deemed acceptable to do so by management. Please, no trolling that copper has been abandoned and 'they' don't give a flying about it.
The down side to all this is as again Carl nods his head at, that in circa 10yrs time there will be a limited work-force required for the 'hands-off network', that Fibre is.
From my own thoughts and perspective, this is why OR were TUPE'd out a couple of years ago and now as we speak, new T&C's are being discussed or brought in, that will only get worse as time marches on ... but all with one thing in mind, termination of contracts when the FTTP build dictates it.
Can't fault the foresight of the management working on behalf of the shareholders, it's just a shame for the younger end just starting out on their career paths.
Even though fibre splicing/testing is a transferable skill within Telecoms companies, the market will be saturated with them once the FTTP build starts tapering off - ergo, a far lower wage structure.