Ford CEO Jim Farley recently emphasized the critical role of the “essential economy” and blue-collar skilled trades while forecasting that artificial intelligence will halve the number of white-collar jobs in the U. S. He has become the latest executive to raise concerns over AI’s impact on workers, joining voices like Amazon’s CEO, who last month announced that the company’s corporate workforce will shrink because of AI. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival last week, Farley stressed the value of the “essential economy, ” which encompasses all activities involving moving, building, or fixing things, and noted that blue-collar skilled trades have long been overlooked. He pointed out that the U. S. invests too little in vocational training, and what training exists is outdated—more suited to 1950 than to 2050—leading to diminished productivity in blue-collar sectors. Despite this, Ford itself has been investing in training programs. Demand for skilled trades is expected to rise significantly, with even the AI expansion requiring workers to construct and maintain the infrastructure needed for massive computing capacity. Farley highlighted a severe shortage of trade workers, estimating deficits of 600, 000 in factories and nearly 500, 000 in construction. “There’s more than one path to the American dream, but our education system remains focused on four-year college degrees, ” Farley remarked. He added that hiring entry-level workers at tech companies has dropped by 50% since 2019, questioning whether that should be the universal goal. He warned, “Artificial intelligence is gonna replace literally half of all white-collar workers in the U. S. ” Farley’s cautionary words add to growing CEO concerns about AI’s labor market effects, especially for office jobs.

Last month, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy predicted the company’s corporate workforce would shrink over the next few years due to AI efficiencies. In a memo, Jassy stated, “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs. . . we expect that this will reduce our total corporate workforce as we get efficiency gains from using AI extensively across the company. ” Adding to these warnings, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei told Axios in May that AI could eliminate half of all entry-level white-collar jobs, potentially pushing unemployment up to 20% within five years. By contrast, the latest employment report showed the U. S. jobless rate at just 4. 1% in June. There are already signs AI is threatening entry-level roles traditionally used by young workers as career stepping stones. LinkedIn’s chief economic opportunity officer, Aneesh Raman, noted in May that AI tools are now performing simple coding and debugging tasks once done by junior software developers, as well as jobs historically held by young employees in the legal and retail sectors. Meanwhile, Farley urged greater awareness of opportunities in skilled trades, highlighting that more Americans are now considering trade school over a four-year college degree. “We all sense that America can do better than we are doing, ” he said. “We need a new mindset, one that recognizes the success and importance of this essential economy and its vital role in our country’s vibrancy and sustainability. ”