Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Farley revealed in a recent podcast interview that Ford has 5,000 technician positions open, and despite offering an annual salary of up to $120,000, which is almost twice the median wage of American workers, it still cannot find people. Farley added that this isn't just a Ford problem. He said the company has struggled to fill positions that require training and physical labor, pointing to a widespread shortage of manual labor jobs in the United States.

"Our country is in trouble. We don't talk about it enough," Farley said. "We have over a million critical jobs unfilled, including emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians and craftsmen. This is a very serious matter."

While a centerpiece of President Donald Trump's economic agenda is bringing manufacturing back to the United States, there remains a gap between the number of vacant factory jobs and the number of people willing to fill them.

Preliminary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that more than 400,000 U.S. manufacturing jobs remained vacant as of August, despite an unemployment rate of 4.3%, higher than in previous years. A study conducted in 2024 found that more than half of 200 manufacturing companies surveyed said recruiting and retaining employees was their biggest challenge.

Farley said, however, that industry jobs like Ford's "made our country what it is," allowing people like his grandfather to live a good life. His grandfather worked on Ford's flagship Model T and was the company's 389th employee.

Farley said the company is doing better on wages. The company eliminated the minimum wage level and agreed to give workers a 25% raise over four years as part of a 2023 deal with the United Auto Workers union.

Farley, however, said part of the manufacturing job shortage is due to a lack of education and training. He noted that it would take at least five years to learn to remove a diesel engine from a Ford Super Truck, for example. He added that the current system was not up to standard.

“We don’t have vocational schools,” he said. “We’re not investing in educating the next generation, like my grandfather, who had nothing and built a middle-class life and future for their family.”