Ford CEO warns of a shortage of blue-collar workers who can build AI data centers and run factories: ‘No way to back up the ambition’

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The United States won’t be able to achieve its ambitious AI goals without the key workers needed to strengthen the infrastructure for building the technology, Ford CEO Jim Farley says.

As AI is projected to grow exponentially by 2033, Farley cautioned that the U.S. has ignored the labor required to build and maintain data centers and manufacturing plants. Even though former President Donald Trump put in place broad tariffs to , U.S. manufacturing still faces issues with hiring and keeping workers.

“I believe the intention is present, but there’s nothing to support the ambition,” Farley stated in September 2025. “How can we bring all this production back to the U.S. if we don’t have workers for those jobs?”

Farley’s worry about staffing AI data centers and factories is part of a crisis he sees impacting the “” of blue-collar workers—who make up , according to the Aspen Institute. The Ford CEO has noted that AI could eliminate , but will also generate massive demand for skilled trade workers.

However, Farley says there isn’t a labor force to meet this increasing demand for workers. Currently, the nation is short 600,000 factory workers and 500,000 construction workers, and will need 400,000 auto technicians over the next three years, he wrote in a in June 2025.

Analysts have pointed to an aging domestic workforce and restrictive immigration policies that limit population growth as factors. Farley attributes the shortage to a lack of awareness about the issue.

Ford, for its part, revealed last month that it would some of its larger electric vehicle models and convert a Kentucky battery factory to make batteries for data centers and large industrial clients.

“We all feel that America can perform better than it is,” Farley last June. “We need a new way of thinking—one that acknowledges the success and significance of this essential economy, and its importance to our country’s vitality and long-term survival.”

AI infrastructure labor shortage

The AI sector is already experiencing this labor shortage. Dame Dawn Childs, CEO of U.K.-based data center operator Pure Data Centres Group, stated that while demand for data centers is surging, a lack of construction workers is slowing down expansion efforts.

“There simply aren’t enough skilled construction workers available,” she last year.

Additionally, data centers are having trouble performing specialized tasks due to a shortage of skilled workers. IT service management firm Uptime Institute found in a 2020 of data center operators that 50% were having difficulty finding candidates for open roles—up from 38% in 2018. An April 2025 showed the problem continues: 51% of 120 U.S.-based power company and data center executives surveyed said a shortage of data center-related skilled labor was a “core challenge.” Over 60% of respondents called it their top challenge.

Even the biggest tech companies are starting to feel the pinch. has pushed back the completion of some data centers it’s building for OpenAI from 2027 to 2028 because of labor shortages and material shortages, reported in December, citing unnamed sources. At the same time, demand for computational data centers is continuing to soar—projected to require in global capital spending between now and 2030, according to . Large cloud service providers known as hyperscalers are expected to spend $300 billion in 2025 alone.

“At first glance, this seems like a people issue—and most are,” Farley told Axios. “But it’s not that straightforward. It’s a problem of awareness. It’s a societal issue.”

Farley said fixing the labor shortage will also need policy changes. He has pushed for more investment in vocational training and apprenticeships, along with pro-trade policies and regulatory reforms that build capacity.

“If we succeed—and when we do—we’ll tackle larger, more complex problems,” he said. “Right now, the issues we’re addressing are very practical. I need 6,000 technicians in my dealerships by Monday morning.”

A version of this story was originally published on  on September 29, 2025.

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