{
  "id": 10919068,
  "title": "Ford CEO Jim Farley teams with Jamie Dimon on $2 billion initiative as he fears the ‘backbone of the American dream’ is crumbling",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/30/ford-ceo-jim-farley-teams-with-jamie-dimon-on-2-billion-initiative-as",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-09-30T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fortune",
    "slug": "fortune",
    "url": "https://fortune.com/2026/09/30/blue-collar-jobs-skilled-trades-backbone-american-dream/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ford CEO Jim Farley has joined with JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon to launch a $2 billion initiative aimed at addressing the skilled-trades shortage in America. Farley, whose grandfather was a mechanic and father grew up around cars, sees the shortage as a threat to the \"backbone of the American dream.\" The Alliance for America's Skilled Trades, a corporate coalition including Ford, BlackRock, Google, and Carhartt, released a report detailing the region-specific nature of the skilled-trades shortage. Ford and JPMorgan have pledged $1 billion each to fund the Michigan LIFT initiative, which aims to award contracts to participating suppliers over the next decade and provide financing for suppliers. A new online tool, the America's Skilled Trades Dashboard, will compile data on the skilled-trades shortage. The report estimates that employers will need to fill about 1.7 million skilled-trades openings each year through 2035, with nearly one-quarter of skilled-trades workers over 55 and a lack of completion rates in training programs. The Alliance recommends improved completion and placement outcomes, additional supports for trainees, and better planning for large projects.",
  "summary": "The State of America’s Skilled Trades report finds that employers will need to fill about 1.7 million skilled-trades openings each year through 2035.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}