Ford CEO Jim Farley laments he can’t fill 5,000 mechanic jobs

[daftandbarmy]

A familiar theme, unfortunately...

Ford CEO Jim Farley laments he can’t fill 5,000 mechanic jobs paying $120K per year: ‘We are in trouble in our country’​

Ford has been unable to fill some 5,000 openings for mechanics despite offering a salary of $120,000 a year — prompting the company’s chief executive to warn of a dire shortage of skilled tradespeople in the US.

“We are in trouble in our country. We are not talking about this enough,” Ford CEO Jim Farley said on an episode of the “Office Hours: Business Edition” podcast published earlier this week.

“We have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians and tradesmen.”

It takes about five years to learn the skills needed to pull a diesel engine out of a Ford Super Duty truck — and the country isn’t training enough people to do it, Farley said.

“We do not have trade schools,” he fumed.

Earlier this year, Ford rolled out a $4 million initiative to fund scholarships for auto technicians.

“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,” Farley said.

Ford CEO Jim Farley laments he can’t fill 5,000 mechanic jobs paying $120K per year: ‘We are in trouble in our country’

“We are in trouble in our country. We are not talking about this enough,” Ford CEO Jim Farley told the “Office Hours: Business Edition” podcast.

nypost.com

 

[dapaterson]

Corporations that refuse to pay taxes to support the education system and refuse to train workers shocked to find that they can't find workers with the skillsets they need.

 

[Kirkhill]

Corporations that refuse to pay taxes to support the education system and refuse to train workers shocked to find that they can't find workers with the skillsets they need.

I can think of a fair few other miscreants than just the corporate types.

Unions that supported seniority over merit, that bargained for higher wages for senior employees rather than employing more youngsters at lower wages as apprentices.

High School counsellors and parents that valued university over trades, often due to perceptions of prestige and connections rather than education.

Governments that did what those parents asked and promoted those diploma mills.

Except in medicine, of course, where the government had to pay all the bills and decided to limit the number of trainees and licences.

Governments that turned out lawyers and accountants, HR managers and bureaucrats - people more at home with rule books and saying "No, you can't" because that is a damsight easier than figuring out how you can.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Corporations that refuse to pay taxes to support the education system and refuse to train workers shocked to find that they can't find workers with the skillsets they need.

A quick use of AI and google shows me Ford pays taxes. Its up to the different levels of Gov to divvy those tax contributions up, no ?

 

[Eaglelord17]

I can think of a fair few other miscreants than just the corporate types.

Unions that supported seniority over merit, that bargained for higher wages for senior employees rather than employing more youngsters at lower wages as apprentices.

High School counsellors and parents that valued university over trades, often due to perceptions of prestige and connections rather than education.

Governments that did what those parents asked and promoted those diploma mills.

Except in medicine, of course, where the government had to pay all the bills and decided to limit the number of trainees and licences.

Governments that turned out lawyers and accountants, HR managers and bureaucrats - people more at home with rule books and saying "No, you can't" because that is a damsight easier than figuring out how you can.

Unions love apprenticeships, it is companies who don’t.

The companies more or less stopped training apprentices in the 80s as it was cheaper and easier to just hire a skilled tradesperson from elsewhere. Add in Europe sending skilled tradespeople here as the jobs were drying up in Europe at the same time period (how my family actually got here) and we have the problem of today.

Lots of people would take a apprenticeship today if given the chance. The issues are companies don’t want to hire and train them, and when they do they have such high educational requirements they are basically expecting a mostly trained worker to start.

 

[Colin Parkinson]

Maybe design cars that can be easily fixed and spend time making sure parts can be removed without massive disassembly to gain access.

 

[RangerRay]

Maybe design cars that can be easily fixed and spend time making sure parts can be removed without massive disassembly to gain access.

 

[Kirkhill]

Expanding on his thought

"According to him, more than 1 million jobs are currently sitting empty in emergency services, trucking, plumbing, factory work, and other trades."

Ford CEO says: We are in deep trouble when you compare us to China, because … - The Times of India

Tech News News: Ford CEO Jim Farley warns of a critical shortage of skilled tradespeople in the US, highlighting over a million unfilled jobs and a dangerous lag comp

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

 

[Czech_pivo]

Expanding on his thought

"According to him, more than 1 million jobs are currently sitting empty in emergency services, trucking, plumbing, factory work, and other trades."

Ford CEO says: We are in deep trouble when you compare us to China, because … - The Times of India

Tech News News: Ford CEO Jim Farley warns of a critical shortage of skilled tradespeople in the US, highlighting over a million unfilled jobs and a dangerous lag comp

timesofindia.indiatimes.com

I thought that’s what the Latino’s role in the US economy was?
This push into the STEM area, coupled with the gutting of the trade school system in the US (and Canada) has lead to this.
Also, why am I not hearing all the Feminist’s lamenting about the lack of Female incentives/opportunities in filling these 1 million jobs?

 

[daftandbarmy]

I thought that’s what the Latino’s role in the US economy was?
This push into the STEM area, coupled with the gutting of the trade school system in the US (and Canada) has lead to this.
Also, why am I not hearing all the Feminist’s lamenting about the lack of Female incentives/opportunities in filling these 1 million jobs?

Similar to the military, how can you expect to get women through the recruiting pipeline when you can't even get enough men through in a 'historically always over-represented by men' profession?

 

[Maxman1]

The only catch is, you have to work on Fords.

 

[daftandbarmy]

It's been a long time coming....

The Labor Shortage In The United States: Why Are American Workers Becoming Harder to Find?​

Remember the Bruce Springsteen song, Glory Days? He talked about everybody wanting to relive the way things were in the past. In terms of the trades, we think a lot of people are caught up in this same idea, romanticizing what used to be: the way we used to be able to acquire talent, be fully staffed, retain workers, etc.

So, before we jump into painting what the future looks like and how we may be able to turn the tide and our thinking, let’s take a peek at how we got here in the first place.

Skilled Trades Shortage Stats​

The skilled trades shortage didn’t happen overnight. But, as we say, the reality is it’s a numbers game right now. Some of these points are skilled trades shortage stats, while others encompass the labor shortage in the United States as a whole. Regardless, these talent shortage statistics show that our country is in desperate need of those willing and able to work.

The ratio of Baby Boomers retiring to workers replacing them is 5:2.​

One of the most concerning skilled trades shortage stats is the ratio of Baby Boomers retiring to Millenials and Gen Z entering the trades. For every five Baby Boomers that retire, only two candidates of younger generations are coming behind them. From that standpoint, it’s just a simple math game. You got five leaving and two coming in, creating more and more of a hiring challenge.

But why is this the case? Well, one reason is the skilled trades stigma that’s been infiltrating young minds for decades.

Society has made earning a college degree the epitome of success.​

For 20 years, society has made earning a college degree the end all be all. The primary question high school seniors get asked at graduation parties is, “Where are you going to college?” instead of, “What are you going to do?” As a result, young people are less inclined to specialize in the trades, making it difficult for employers to find skilled labor to replace the older generation.

58% of the workforce needs new skills to get their jobs done.​

Many companies can’t wait for grads or trainees to fill their labor demands. We’ve done a few podcasts on this topic, but we’re well into the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), which is a strong move toward automation and digital transformation on the manufacturing floor. This automation was needed, but it’s also creating a skills gap, which is part of the issue as well. So not only do you have a people gap, but a people with the right skills gap.

The Labor Shortage In The United States: Why Are American Workers Becoming Harder to Find? - Skillwork

The skilled trades shortage didn’t happen overnight. The reality is that it's a numbers game right now. Let’s look at skilled trades shortage stats.

skillwork.com