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.”

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."