Ford CEO Jim Farley has been ringing the alarm bell for months about what he sees as a “crisis” in what he calls “ the essential economy “: everyday industries that build and fix things. In other words, he thinks the blue-collar backbone of America is being ignored, even with all the hype about artificial intelligence (AI) eating up entry-level jobs. (Farley himself has famously predicted that AI will destroy up to half of white-collar employment .)

Onstage at the Ford Pro Accelerate summit earlier this week, organized by Farley to bring together business leaders to discuss big-picture solutions, the Ford leader revealed that his own son was openly questioning whether to go to college, having really enjoyed his summer job as a mechanic. “Dad, I really like this work,” Farley recalled

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