Ford Motor company CEO Jim Farley recently shared his thoughts on America’s labour future. He revealed that the company is struggling to fill around 5,000 skilled-mechanic roles despite offering salaries around $120,000. Now once again, Farley has said that the realm crises facing America is the shortage of trade workers. In an appearance on the Office Hours: Business Edition podcast, Farley issued a warning that the US is dangerously behind countries like China when it comes with building and sustaining essential workforce. Farley didn’t mince words: “We are in deep trouble when you compare us to China,” he said, pointing to the lack of skilled labor across critical sectors. According to him, more than 1 million jobs are currently sitting empty in emergency services, trucking, plumbing, factory work, and other trades.

A national security concern

Farley stressed that this shortage is not just about filling jobs, but it is about safeguarding the country’s ability to function in times of crises. He also argued that skilled traders are the backbone of the US economy and national resilience, but still US is failing to invest in training and education to replenish this workforce.Farley’s grandfather who worked on Ford’s assembly line, has also been vocal about the need to rebuild the pipeline for blue collar workers. “Those hardworking jobs made our country what it is,” he said. “We do not have trade schools. We are not investing in educating a next generation… of people like my grandfather who had nothing, who built a middle-class life and a future for his family.”This is the only conviction which led Ford to become the first major automaker to ratify union agreements during recent labour negotiations in both the US and Canada. “I’m so proud of us,” Farley said. “We got rid of the lower tier, paid everyone the same. Now those people have a career at Ford like my grandfather.”

Lesson learned from COVID

Farley also shared his thoughts on how the pandemic exposed the cracks present in the wage system. He said that many workers told him that they were juggling between multiple jobs in order to make the ends meet. In response to this, Ford altogether eliminated its two-tier wage structure and gave employees a clear path to financial stability, which Farley think is important for workforce rebuilding.

A national challenge

Farley also emphasised that this not just the problem of Ford. He mentioned that the solution to this lies in public-private cooperation, education reform and cultural respect for manual work. “If we work together like we always have in America… and we get after this with the government, with education… I think we can solve this. But we have a lot of work to do.”