Jim Farley hosted a panel with Mike Rowe, who said, “Nothing in the history of Western civilization has gotten more expensive, more quickly” than college.

During the UAW strike of 2023, Farley said he was shocked by what he heard: “Old-timers in our plants were saying, ‘It’s no longer a career, Mr. Farley.‘”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, speaking at Ford’s event on Tuesday, warned that she’s “very sober” about the stakes: “China will dominate.”

Jim Farley hosted a panel with Mike Rowe, who said, “Nothing in the history of Western civilization has gotten more expensive, more quickly” than college.

Jim Farley said his grandfather, a Ford factory worker, didn’t go to college, and if his son goes on to work in the trades, he’d be “so thrilled as a parent.”

Tech innovations like automation have taken work away from the industry in the past, he said.

"And by broadening the concept to fixing and moving as well as making things, I think it becomes a more plausible and a more inclusive concept."