Ford CEO Jim Farley teams with Jamie Dimon on $2 billion initiative as he fears the ‘backbone of the American dream’ is crumbling

Key Points:

• The Alliance for America’s Skilled Trades, launched by Ford, BlackRock, Google, and Carhartt, released a report highlighting a need to fill 1.7 million skilled-trades jobs annually through 2035, with over 18 million workers currently contributing $3.8 trillion to the U.S. GDP.
• The report reveals regional and trade-specific labor shortages, noting that states like Texas and North Carolina gain skilled workers through migration, while states like New York experience significant losses, complicating workforce planning.
• Only about half of those entering apprenticeships or postsecondary skilled-trade programs complete them, and fewer enter trade occupations, creating challenges not just in recruitment but also in training capacity and mentorship for new workers.
• The Alliance launched the America’s Skilled Trades Dashboard to consolidate scattered data on the skilled trades workforce, aiming to better inform employers, educators, and policymakers.
• Michigan LIFT, a $2 billion public-private initiative announced by Ford and JPMorgan, seeks to connect capital, suppliers, and workforce development to scale manufacturing capabilities and address skilled labor shortages in the U.S.