so they can benefit?

and Farley is a GD whiner

of trade schools. The equipment for training mechanics is expensive, and all trades are generally trained through apprenticeship programs ON THE JOB. Does Ford provide those kind of positions If not, he can STFU.

he did attend a 2 year trade school in high school. We live in Kent County, MI near Grand Rapids and they have a marvelous trade school for high schoolers in our county called Kent Career Technical Center (KCTC) He knew he wanted to weld, entered the program and kicked butt, so much that a local commercial construction firm recruited him out of there BEFORE he even graduated high school. That was 6 months ago, and he's now 19 and is making almost $30 per hour and leads a crew to boot. He loves it and we are insanely proud of him. He's getting all his certifications at the local community college which has classes in the evening after he gets off work.

Conversely, our daughter went to a 4 year University and graduated recently with no job and questionable prospects despite us spending over 100K for her schooling. She's JUST now finding her footing by hanging out her own shingle and being self employed. She's making it and we couldn't be prouder. So we're are grateful and forever humble cuz it's UGLY out there as we all know.

Last edited Sat Nov 15, 2025, 11:44 PM - Edit history (1)

It’s decent enough a wage, you’d think there would be takers.

Someone ought to study why they cant fill the jobs. I’d be curious to see what the unemployment rate is in a 25-mile radius of each plant with jobs to fill.

I just Googled mechanic openings in the Los Angeles area, and they run $24 to $40 per hour (that's $50k to $83k per year) at Ford dealerships. https://careers.autonation.com/us/en/job/JR2025130660/Mobile-Service-Dealership-Technician-Ford-Valencia

Being an auto mechanic is a hard job. Tough on your hands. You're always bent over or reaching awkwardly. You're stuck all day in a dirty, loud, unpleasant environment. For $50k? No thanks.

is necessary for a good career, not realizing that experienced tradespeople earn as much or more and have better job security.

Hands-on jobs like nursing and plumbing are in-house.

promote from within. And for gawds sakes, reduce the wage gap between ceo's and workers.

Hmmm???

the graduates from the first class of that one being built in Utah will be ready before you know it.

What a world.

Train the effing mechanics in-house. What a stupid imbecile.

Many of the trades aren't easy academically, a common misconception, and for whatever reason people don't want to train in those fields. This isn't anything new. Back in the late 2000's and into the 20 teens, the company I worked offered generous relo and pay to fill those spots. We offered apprenticeship programs and it was still tough attracting talent. A highly trained machinist was and is worth their weight in gold. They're the folks who make technologically advanced manufacturing work.

And I can tell you confidently that would never be a starting salary. This is just a flat out lie.

My guess is the amount they're really offering is less than half of that. Even if I walked in for an interview they would find some reason to put me on a "probationary" salary, and give some excuse about how I'd be up for a 6 month review and re-negotiation. At which point they'd offer some meager raise that still wouldn't get anyone near that figure.

Dangling these carrots is SOP for these assholes. If that was what they were really offering, there'd be a line around the block by tomorrow.

Trained the workers for the next generation. Then “right-to-work-for-less” attacked Union labor, and broke Unions. Now those sake greedy capitalists who attacked Unions cries about nobody to train.

"the country isn’t training enough people to meet that demand."

Saying 'not my fault'! The country is to blame!

Neither is Ford. Got many apprenticeship programs running?

When I watch some US sourced programs here in Australia I'm surprised.

Those shows on how a home makeover is done, a semi-comedy set in a garage . . . the guys who do the work are mostly, well, the working class, aka people of color, 'south of the border' types.

Of course the supervisors aren't.

Same thing here though, had a bathroom reno done, the tilers, the electrician, the plumbers - Afghani ex pats, who worked non stop but never spoke a word of English.

Currently we have a 'Big Plan' here to help with the housing shortage, put up lots of new houses, offer long term mortgages at 5% !
Except - trade people are in shortage.

So a few questions for that Ford guy.

1. Did you really think there is an untapped group of trained people, just sitting around waiting for your (highly overstated) wage offer?

2. Will the lily white young Americans with their delicate hands jump into the breech?

3. Trade schools and apprenticeships? Are you going to do something positive there?

Please stop with the hot air, not fair, all too difficult blather!

Fixing cars now requires computer skills. Auto mechanic is definitely a skilled profession. Many end up opening their own repair shop where they can make more money. $120k a year is much more than mechanic openings offer at Ford dealerships. For example, I just Googled mechanic openings in the Los Angeles area, and they run $24 to $40 per hour (that's $50k to $83k per year). https://careers.autonation.com/us/en/job/JR2025130660/Mobile-Service-Dealership-Technician-Ford-Valencia

Being an auto mechanic is a hard job. Tough on your hands. You're always bent over or reaching awkwardly. You're stuck all day in a dirty, loud, unpleasant environment. For $50k? No thanks.

Electric vehicles require a small fraction of the maintenance of gas cars. And some of the most physically demanding tasks just don't exist in electric vehicles (engine rebuilds, transmission overhauls, etc).

Farley wants it both ways. He wants a product that requires a lot of servicing because that's where dealerships traditionally make their profits (not on new car sales). But he wants to complain that there aren't enough mechanics.

My GM dealer had a few young fellows. I had major problems with my vehicle with active fuel management system. The young man with his laptop and a string of cables around his neck came out and diagnosed the problem. He even made the repairs to the engine. GM had a vendor that made some bad engine parts. The service manger said he is the best mechanic we have. I knew when he was working on it and he had it back together on Monday. My truck sends me text messages so he worked OT to get it done.

Over twenty five years ago (wow now I’m really feeling old), when I was in high school, we had vocational electives available like auto mechanics, drafting/CAD, and electronics which could teach some useful skills at the time. Was it career prep ready? Maybe not in itself, but it exposed students to some basic skills and familiarity they could use for a resume to get a real apprenticeship down the line. Often they could get on the job training by companies, like…Ford

I’m not sure if these courses are readily available or funded as well now, with the push to make everyone “college ready”. These training programs are also much more complex and require a higher level of technical skills than in the past.

This is where corporations should step in and fill the gap. They can create specialized training programs through partnerships with community colleges, which are often strained for funding anyways. I know this is already the case with some CCs, so I think Farley should step up these efforts rather than complaining about the lack of trade schools.

If the corporations aren’t finding the talent they need, they should create avenues to educate promising students, since a lot of the skills are highly specialized anyways. Who does he expect to fund these vocational schools anyways? If they’re government run, those companies would then complain about the quality of the training.

Besides, if the vocational schools are created under this administration it’s just another potential grift by Trump and his cronies.

The owners along with the manufacturers have the whole service side rigged against fair payment for mechanics and technicians.

It would be to the company’s long term benefit. There would no doubt be tax write-offs.