Jim Farley channels Henry Ford as temp workers go full-time
Ford CEO Jim Farley said the carmaker has turned temporary workers into full-time employees after learning that some younger staff were working second jobs at Amazon just to survive. Speaking at the Aspen Ideas Festival, Farley said the move echoes founder Henry Ford’s historic 1914 wage increase to $5 a day, which helped birth the American middle class.
“Some of our young people were working at Amazon before clocking in for seven-hour shifts at Ford,” Farley explained during a conversation with author Walter Isaacson. “They were sleeping three or four hours a night. That’s not sustainable.”
Reviving a 20th-century playbook
Farley said the company’s decision to make temp workers eligible for higher wages, profit-sharing, and improved healthcare came from feedback during union negotiations with the United Auto Workers (UAW). A clause in the 2019 UAW contract allows temps to become full-time after two years of continuous service. He acknowledged the transition was costly but necessary.
“It wasn’t easy. It was expensive,” Farley said. “But these are the changes we need in this country.”
He added that Henry Ford’s original wage hike wasn’t just goodwill, but a business move. “He said, ‘If my factory workers make enough, they’ll buy my cars.’ It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Addressing a trade skills gap
Farley, an advocate for U.S. manufacturing, highlighted the urgent need for stronger trade education and workforce development. “You go to Germany, every factory worker has an apprentice starting in junior high,” he said. “We need similar programs here.”
Despite an expected 3.8 million new manufacturing jobs by 2033, younger generations continue to avoid the sector. A 2023 study by Soter Analytics cited low wages as the top reason. U.S. manufacturing workers currently average $25 per hour, or $51,890 annually, well below the national average salary of $66,600.
Strikes and systemic pressure
In 2023, over 16,000 Ford employees joined a wider UAW strike demanding better pay and conditions. The final contract deal reduced the time required for temp workers to become permanent, a key issue in the dispute. Farley called the strike “completely unnecessary” from management’s perspective and stressed that wage reform must go beyond Ford.
“We’re not just going to hope it gets better,” he said. “We have the resources and the know-how after 120 years to solve these problems, but we need help from others, too.”
