Ford Motor Corporation's President and CEO Jim Farley said workers at the carmaker's manufacturing facilities have raised warning flags that “none of the young people want to work here”. He said its an industry wide problem amid general shortage of trained and skilled manual labour in the United States, Fortune reported.
Speaking on the Office Hours: Business Edition podcast to host Monica Langley, the auto executive said that Ford has around 5,000 mechanic jobs with hefty six-figure salaries, that have got no takers due to lack of skilled workers in the US.
These mechanical positions provide a salary of $1,20,000 he said. The amount is close to double the median American worker's pay, as per the report.
‘We are in trouble in this country’, says Jim Farley
Ford further warned that the problem posed by lack of skilled labour is something that is going unaddressed.
“We are in trouble in our country. We are not talking about this enough. We have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen. It’s a very serious thing,” he stated.
The businessman referred to his grandfather who was one of Ford's 389 employees working on the flagship Model T, emphasising that trade jobs, similar to those offered by Ford, “made our country what it is” and build good livelihoods for American workers.
Salaries are up, so why are jobs vacant?
Referring to salaries, Farley said that in its 2023 agreement with the United Auto Workers union, Ford has eliminated its lowest tier wage scale and agreed to give all workers a 25 per cent salary jump over four years. But noted that increasing pay did not mean vacancies filled faster.
“Part of the problem for the shortage of manufacturing jobs is the lack of education and training. For example, learning to take a diesel engine out of a Ford Super Duty truck takes at least five years. The current system is not meeting the standard,” he noted.
Farley also pointed to the lack of investment in education for such jobs and lack of trade schools to conduct trainings. “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,” he felt.
Over 4 lakh US manufacturing jobs unfilled
The Fortune report cited data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to note that till August 2025, there were over 4,00,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs in the US, despite the country's unemployment rate being 4.3%.
It also referred to a 2024 study by the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte in US, which found that over 100 manufacturing companies said their biggest challenge was recruitment and retention of workers.
However, not all is bleak. Gen Z, faced by unemployment is moving away from the college-to-corporate job path and instead taking up trade school to avoid education loans and land comparatively lucrative jobs. Data from the National Student Clearinghouse showed that enrolment for vocational school in the US has increased 16% year-on-year, the report added.