BREAKING: Ford CEO Jim Farley Just Dropped a Rare Truth Bomb

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Ford CEO Jim Farley just dropped a rare truth bomb: America has over 1 million open jobs in critical fields—mechanics, truckers, factory workers, plumbers, electricians—and they can’t fill them. Ford is literally offering salaries “Ivy League grads might envy”… and still can’t find people to take the jobs.
In this episode, we break down:

• Ford’s warning about the skilled labor crisis
• How subsidies and student loans distorted the entire education market
• The Swiss apprenticeship model that actually works (teens working 3–4 days a week, learning real skills, getting paid)
• Why teachers’ unions and the education cartel would fight this tooth and nail
• And why real reform means partnering with businesses, not bloating more bureaucracy

If you’re tired of watching kids rack up six figures in debt for a job that doesn’t exist while the country is desperate for people who can actually do things… this one’s for you.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Watchdog on Wall Street podcast explaining the news coming
out of the complex worlds of finance, economics, and politics
and the impact it we'll have on everyday Americans. Author,
investment banker, consumer advocate, analyst, and trader Chris Markowski.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Ford needs Mechanics. Yeah, this was interesting. You had the
CEO of Ford Motor Company, Jim Farley. Actually, he came
out and he served up a bit of a truth
bomb and some of the uh, you know, the the
the magotypes and the closed borders set, you know, got

(00:39):
angry about the entire system. What do you mean, man,
people who want work here in his country? Hold on, okay,
but before you get your bloody underwear in a bunch, okay, think,
take a couple of steps back and use a couple
of brain cells and think a little bit. He said.
We are in trouble in our country. We're not talking
about this enough. We have over one million openings and

(01:03):
critical jobs emergency services, trucking, factory workers, plumbers, electricians and tradesmen. Ford,
he said, is struggling to hire mechanics at salaries that
Ivy League grads might envy. Abay with a lift in
tools and no one to work in it. Are you

(01:24):
kidding me? Nope. Mister Farley lamented, we do not have
trade schools in this country. He's right to a large decree.
Few schools teach trades these days. Community colleges are mostly
remedial high school education and government worker training programs have
poor results. Again, it was interesting as well, the regular

(01:45):
four year schools have got to offer remedial math. At
Harvard offers remedial math. At this point and time, all
of the government spending all of the loans, all of
the cities, which is one of the most awful words
on the planet as far as this country is concerned,

(02:07):
have encouraged kids not just for college but also graduate
programs as well. Courage kids to go to college when
you know what, maybe they might be better off doing
something else. And this has caused a big mismatch in
the labor market. And talking about this for years here

(02:27):
on the program, and again not the same old thing.
And again it's an ego thing with some parents. I've
had this conversation with them. You know, got to spend
kids taking on too much debt going to a school
that they probably shouldn't go to. What degree are they
going to get?

Speaker 1 (02:46):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (02:46):
They got to find themselves. Really, I've talked about this
before here on the program. There's other way, there's better
ways of doing things. I've talked about the Swiss model here.
They have in their school system, they have a a

(03:08):
it's called an apprenticeship model. It's a basically, it's a
dual system. Now there's a couple, there's a few colleges
here in the kind of Drexel does this in Philadelphia
where they have various different programs where you're working for businesses.
But basically the approach in Switzerland. Pretty wealthy country, pay

(03:31):
nice country. I bet it pretty nice place. Dual system.
It combines on the job training with classroom instruction at
a vocational level. Now apprentices fifteen sixteen years old. Now, again,
it's just something we all might have been interested in

(03:53):
when we were younger. I think so I would have
been very interested in this. I don't about you. Fifteen
sixteen years old. You go to work three to four
days a week while attending school one or two days
a week, spending about eighty percent of your time gaining

(04:14):
practical real world skills. Now, this is a partnership between companies,
industry associations, and the government, and basically it aligns with
labor market needs. So what does Switzerland have? They make
pretty nice stuff, they do, pretty highly skilled workforce and

(04:38):
very low youth unemployment. Apprentices are paid to stipend, are
considered an investment by the company, and can pursue further
education or higher education after completing the program. So basically,
in the case of Jim Farley, here, it's like four
getting in bed with an area, let's say, okay in

(05:02):
Detroit and putting together a program like this makes sense, right,
makes really good sense. I'm sure a lot of fifteens
would love to do something like this. Do you ever
think that the teachers' unions would allow something like this? Oh,

(05:23):
they'd find a way to spin it as racist. This,
I can see it now. I'm gonna go over the
components of this model, the Swiss model. Okay, you tell
me I'm wrong here, you tell me that this wouldn't
work here in the United States. Dual system, practical hands
on work with theoretical classroom learning creating a comprehensive and

(05:47):
efficient training program. Yes, makes sense. Company involvement. Companies play
a leading role by training apprentices and influencing the curriculum
to meet their specific needs. They best in the apprentices
and often hire them after graduation, making apprenticeships a key
recruiting strategy. See how we do it in here in

(06:08):
this country is you got to get yourself an internship
when you're in college, and you know, if mommy and
daddy have enough bloody money, then they can pay for
your apartment in New York or Boston or Washington, d C.
And allow you to have that internship. Because you ain't
getting paid goodly unless you know, at least it wasn't

(06:29):
my day. They're starting to pay now a little bit,
am I wrong? No? Not wrong. Paid apprenticeships apprentices receive
a salary during their training, which helps offset training costs
for companies and provides financial independence for the apprentices industry
and government partnership. The government, along with the employer associations,

(06:52):
works with companies to set federal standards and regulate exams
to ensure uniform quality across the country. Again, that's not
a public private that's the government playing referee. It's kind
of like saying, hey, I want all the umpires to
have the same strike zone. Okay, that's not a public
private partnership. That's a government doing what it's supposed to do.

(07:14):
Be the referee career flexibility. After completing the three to
four year apprenticeship, graduates receive a federal diploma and can
enter the workforce, directly, pursue higher education, or even enrole
in a university program. You you tell me that our
system is better. Prove to me, okay, teachers, proved to me?

(07:39):
Any of you members teachers union? Yeah, shut down at schools,
put masks on everybody. Okay. No, this is this is
real reform, stuable right. Swiss are doing it for crying
out like wall Why can't we do it again? Simple?
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