The U.S. needs 1.7 million skilled trades workers a year. Ford wants to help train them

The U.S. is expected to require 1.7 million skilled trades workers annually through 2035, according to a recent report by Ford, Jobs for the Future, and Burning Glass Institute. Ford's CEO, Jim Farley, aims to address the shortage in skilled trades by bringing together industry leaders to boost the "essential economy." The alliance, formed in July with BlackRock, Google, and Carhartt, released the report "The State of America's Skilled Trades: A National Report."

The analysis found that current training programs only produce 55 workers for every 100 needed, with about 600,000 openings in areas like AI, advanced manufacturing, and energy. Ford, a profitable business specializing in trucks and services, is using its commercial arm to tackle the skills shortage and has partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies and Lyft to pilot a new auto tech program in Detroit Public Schools and help students get to training and apprenticeship programs.

The alliance will announce new members, and the discussion will continue at the Fortune 500 Innovation Forum in Detroit.