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Ford CEO worried about the essential economy [1]

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Date: 2025-09-01

A.I. can’t do plumbing. A.I. can’t do any of the skilled trades. A.I. can’t do much of anything, but that’s a topic for another day. Jim Farley, the current Ford CEO, is worried about what he calls “the essential economy,” the economy of people who work with their hands, people like carpenters and millwrights.

In an op-ed for Time, Farley reminisces about how he worked at a classic car restoration shop while putting himself through business school.

I worked mostly on interiors, sewing frog skin, buffalo hide, and every material you could imagine. But I also was a mechanic, rebuilding engines and repairing the many parts and systems that have made cars run since Henry Ford’s day. Like many Americans, I learned by doing with my hands. As a CEO today, I hear every day about how new technologies like A.I. are going to transform our economy. But I can’t help thinking about the work A.I. can’t replace: the millions who primarily work with their hands. That includes tens of thousands of Ford hourly employees and skilled tradespeople who make our manufacturing system run every day and the millions who use our commercial trucks and vans to get their work done. Whether you are a first responder inserting an IV line in a speeding ambulance to a plumber snaking a drain, A.I. can’t do your job.

Notice Farley doesn’t say that A.I. can’t do a CEO’s job. But of course the focus here is on skilled trades.

These hands-on workers are part of what we call America's “Essential Economy.” This 95-million-strong workforce powers the critical industries we rely on to keep our economy running—industries whose jobs have long been springboards to the middle class and foundations for strong, stable communities. Sectors like construction, agriculture, skilled trades, transportation, energy, and manufacturing sustain 3 million businesses and deliver $12 trillion in GDP. The Essential Economy is the backbone of this country. And it’s in danger. Over the past eight years—thanks to technologies like cloud computing, mobile apps, and faster teleconferencing—productivity in the white-collar economy surged 28%. But productivity in the Essential Economy declined over the same period, according to a recent study by the Aspen Institute. That's what’s concerning me as we approach Labor Day, because productivity is one of the most effective tools to drive higher profits for businesses, higher wages for workers, and a higher GDP for our country.

I don’t know, that last sentence feels like a bit of an empty statement. But… what are the other tools to drive higher profits for businesses? Maybe deceptions that cheat workers and customers? Is it any wonder then that the people who might go into the skilled trades worry about the rug getting pulled out from under them just so that a CEO like Farley can have a short-term profit?

Or maybe let’s give Farley the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he is sincere about restoring the middle class by helping the essential economy. In his op-ed, he proposes some ideas for making workforce development a higher priority. And he invites leaders in business, technology and government to a summit in Detroit at the end of this month to discuss the essential economy.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/9/1/2341379/-Ford-CEO-worried-about-the-essential-economy?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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