CLEVELAND, Ohio — The article said nothing about hiring in the Christmas season. Instead, it shined a spotlight on Ford CEO Jim Farley and his broad thoughts on tech layoffs and cooling growth in wages.

Farley pointed out a problem hiding in plain sight: thousands of high-paying jobs sitting empty across America, because the country doesn’t have enough skilled laborers to fill them.

He used Ford as his example: The automaker currently has 5,000 mechanic positions sitting vacant at dealerships across the United States. None of these are minimum-wage jobs. They pay around $120,000 annually, although they require five years of training to master.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median income for full-time workers is about $62,192 annually. The unfilled positions at Ford

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