【By Observer News, Pan Yuchen, Editor: Gao Xin】 According to the "Times of India", on December 1st, Ford's CEO Jim Farley recently warned that the United States is facing a severe shortage of skilled workers, with more than one million job vacancies, far behind countries such as China, making it difficult to maintain construction and basic labor forces.
"When compared to China, we are in trouble," Farley emphasized the necessity of investing in vocational education and rebuilding the blue-collar workforce on the podcast "Office Hours: Business Edition." According to him, there are currently more than one million job vacancies in emergency services, trucking, pipelines, factory work, and other industries. This shortage not only affects employment but also affects the country's ability to ensure operations during crises.
Ford CEO Jim Farley, Visual China
Farley also believes that skilled labor is the cornerstone of the US national economic resilience, but the US still has not invested in training and education to supplement this workforce. He used Ford itself as an example, stating that despite offering about $120,000 in wages, Ford is still struggling to fill about 5,000 skilled mechanic positions.
Farley said it is necessary to rebuild pathways for blue-collar workers, because "these hardworking jobs built our country." He cited his grandfather, who once worked on Ford's assembly line, saying that people who had nothing before could build middle-class lives and futures for their families through blue-collar work. However, today's America is not continuing to invest in education for the next generation.
Farley also said that many workers told him before and after the pandemic: to make ends meet, they needed to shuttle between multiple jobs. In response, Ford completely eliminated its dual wage structure and provided employees with a clear path to financial stability. Farley believes this is very important for rebuilding the workforce.
Farley also emphasized that the shortage of skilled labor is not just a problem for Ford, and the solution lies in public-private cooperation, educational reform, and respect for the culture of manual labor. "If companies work together with the government and the education sector... I think we can solve this problem. But we still have a lot of work to do," Farley said.
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Original: toutiao.com/article/7579068053837660722/
Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.