{"id":17549,"date":"2026-01-31T17:25:36","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T17:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=17549"},"modified":"2026-01-31T17:25:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T17:25:36","slug":"ford-has-5000-open-mechanic-jobs-with-up-to-6-figure-salaries-we-are-in-trouble-in-our-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=17549","title":{"rendered":"Ford has 5,000 open mechanic jobs with up to 6-figure salaries: ‘We are in trouble in our country\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Ford\u2019s CEO Jim Farley thinks America needs a wake-up call.<\/p>\n

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Speaking on the Office Hours: Business Edition<\/em> podcast, Farley said Ford had 5,000 open mechanic positions that it hasn\u2019t been able to fill, despite the possibility of an eye-popping $120,000 salary\u2014nearly double the American worker\u2019s median salary.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s not just Ford, added Farley. The carmaker\u2019s struggle to fill jobs that require training and manual labor are indicative of a general shortage for manual-labor jobs in the U.S., he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in trouble in our country. We are not talking about this enough,\u201d Farley told host Monica Langley. \u201cWe have over a million openings in critical jobs, emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians, and tradesmen. It\u2019s a very serious thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While President Donald Trump has centered his economic agenda on bringing manufacturing back to the U.S., there remains a gap between the number of factory jobs open and the number of people willing to fill them.<\/p>\n

There were 394,000 manufacturing jobs open as of November, according to preliminary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, despite a 4.4% unemployment rate, which is higher than in previous years. A 2024 study from the Manufacturing Institute and Deloitte also found more than half of the 200 manufacturing firms surveyed said recruiting and retaining workers was their top struggle.<\/p>\n

Yet, Farley said blue-collar jobs, like those open at Ford, \u201cmade our country what it is,\u201d and allowed people like his grandfather\u2014who worked on the company\u2019s flagship Model T and was employee 389 at the company\u2014to have good lives.<\/p>\n

Farley said the company is doing better on wages. It got rid of the lowest tier of its wage scale, and agreed to give workers a 25% salary bump over four years as part of its agreement with the United Auto Workers union in 2023.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, part of the problem for the shortage of manufacturing jobs is the lack of education and training, according to Farley. He noted, 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 added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not have trade schools,\u201d he said. \u201cWe 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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

To be sure, younger people may be leading the charge on filling the gap in manufacturing positions. Gen Z is increasingly straying from the traditional college path and attending trade schools in an effort to avoid cumbersome student loans while also snagging a well paying job.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Enrollment in vocational school jumped 16% in 2024, rising to the highest level since National Student Clearinghouse started tracking data in 2018, Fortune<\/em> previously reported. However, the top jobs paying more than $200,000 per year still mostly require advanced degrees, according to a study by job platform Ladders.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A version of this story was published on Fortune.com on Nov. 12, 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n

More on Ford CEO Jim Farley:<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n

#Ford #open #mechanic #jobs #6figure #salaries #trouble #country<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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