The Kids Aren't Alright [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[MAT1955]

Ford CEO, in a wide ranging interview said he has been told by senior line workers that the younger workers are having to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Some come from 8 hour shifts at companies like Amazon with only 3-4 hours of sleep and can't function properly. Farley is trying to address the problem by shortening the time new workers are on probation and encouraging boards of education to offer trade school courses like the "tech" classes that were in my school when I grew-up. If this article is accurate and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity then it's amazing that there are so few, relatively speaking, issues with new vehicles. I'm sure all auto manufacturers face the same challenges. Form what I see high school graduates have two choices: a trade school diploma or pure science/technology/AI in university. Degrees in journalism, poly sci etc. etc. are doors to Costco or Home Depot. The article in MSN was attributed to Fortune Magazines interview and notes of a recent speech by Jim Farley.

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[Zig]

Ford CEO, in a wide ranging interview said he has been told by senior line workers that the younger workers are having to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Some come from 8 hour shifts at companies like Amazon with only 3-4 hours of sleep and can't function properly. Farley is trying to address the problem by shortening the time new workers are on probation and encouraging boards of education to offer trade school courses like the "tech" classes that were in my school when I grew-up. If this article is accurate and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity then it's amazing that there are so few, relatively speaking, issues with new vehicles. I'm sure all auto manufacturers face the same challenges. Form what I see high school graduates have two choices: a trade school diploma or pure science/technology/AI in university. Degrees in journalism, poly sci etc. etc. are doors to Costco or Home Depot. The article in MSN was attributed to Fortune Magazines interview and notes of a recent speech by Jim Farley.

If the kids are in that deep this soon they done did something really really wrong. I mean why would a youngin spend so much that they barter years of their life for their immediate desires?

 

[Alan Applegate]

Career choices are often products of necessity rather than educational ones. And considering the high cost of education (or indoctrination as some feel that it is), manual labor becomes the only recourse. All this said, applying oneself with on-the-job zeal often results in better outcomes.

A good example is the so-called neo mechanic. Gone are the days of busted knuckles replaced with savvy knowledge of all things electronic. Those who persevere often exceed their college-educated peers' incomes.

 

[Gregs24]

Career choices are often products of necessity rather than educational ones. And considering the high cost of education (or indoctrination as some feel that it is), manual labor becomes the only recourse. All this said, applying oneself with on-the-job zeal often results in better outcomes.

A good example is the so-called neo mechanic. Gone are the days of busted knuckles replaced with savvy knowledge of all things electronic. Those who persevere often exceed their college-educated peers' incomes.

No wonder the US is in a mess. Avoiding education and sticking to manual labour! You will all be living in caves again in 20 years....

 

[RobertWins]

Education is more than going to college. Not everyone belongs in a college. Trade schools are making a resurgence for a good reason. Learning a trade IS education and it is necessary to keep balance in our workforce. I love the arrogance of someone with a master's degree looking down on an auto worker who built the car the "educated" guy drives but couldn't fix to save his life. All the while Mr. Masters is trying to pay off student loans while Mr. Trade is enjoying his boat, hot wife and putting away money in his pension. (Btw, I am a professional engineer, all y'all upset educated folk can stuff it...)

I think part of the problem is parents and the k-12 educational industrial complex are not teaching our young people how to actually work and save. Instead we treat 24 year olds like babies and let them live in the basement after they finish their worthless degree. Rent is ridiculous, food is outrageous, but if you stay out of debt (and Starbucks every morning), a job at Ford could be a dream.

I personally am thankful for the young people that are giving it a go, and for modern QC at the plants!

 

[Zig]

Education is more than going to college. Not everyone belongs in a college. Trade schools are making a resurgence for a good reason. Learning a trade IS education and it is necessary to keep balance in our workforce. I love the arrogance of someone with a master's degree looking down on an auto worker who built the car the "educated" guy drives but couldn't fix to save his life. All the while Mr. Masters is trying to pay off student loans while Mr. Trade is enjoying his boat, hot wife and his putting away in his pension. (Btw, I am a professional engineer, all y'all upset educated folk can stuff it...)

I think part of the problem is parents and the k-12 educational industrial complex are not teaching our young people how to actually work and save. Instead we treat 24 year olds like babies and let them live in the basement after they finish their worthless degree. Rent is ridiculous, food is outrageous, but if you stay out of debt (and Starbucks every morning), a job at Ford could be a dream.

I personally am thankful for the young people that are giving it a go, and for modern QC at the plants!

How can that be, without getting political, when mr immigrant is not only able to survive but thrive? Homegrown seems to get left at the curb. It’s the inherent waste of excess that become discarded due to the loss of expectation.

 

[RobertWins]

How can that be, without getting political, when mr immigrant is not only able to survive but thrive? Homegrown seems to get left at the curb. It’s the inherent waste of excess that become discarded due to the loss of expectation.

Agree. What I witnessed, raising two kids in CA (Both productive adults with good jobs, one college grad, one not) was that the educational system there demonized the trades. The public schools did away with shops and ROP classes and they pushed even the underachievers and less bright to go to college. They created a void in the work force. The immigrant population filled that void. They work harder, pay better attention and make a good living they deserve. The home grown kids have had it to good, they need to know a little struggle when they are young.

 

[gbadger]

Ford CEO, in a wide ranging interview said he has been told by senior line workers that the younger workers are having to work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Some come from 8 hour shifts at companies like Amazon with only 3-4 hours of sleep and can't function properly. Farley is trying to address the problem by shortening the time new workers are on probation and encouraging boards of education to offer trade school courses like the "tech" classes that were in my school when I grew-up. If this article is accurate and I have no reason to doubt its authenticity then it's amazing that there are so few, relatively speaking, issues with new vehicles. I'm sure all auto manufacturers face the same challenges. Form what I see high school graduates have two choices: a trade school diploma or pure science/technology/AI in university. Degrees in journalism, poly sci etc. etc. are doors to Costco or Home Depot. The article in MSN was attributed to Fortune Magazines interview and notes of a recent speech by Jim Farley.

Going to disagree on so few issues. I’m on my third time in less than a year where my computer has shut off mid drive and needs to be replaced and have been waiting for a replacement for a defective differential for 3 months now.

I am about to lemon law this car as it’s been in the shop for more than a month, almost two, in total since buying it.

I’m so pissed at the reliability of this car because the car itself is awesome when it’s working. I was fine with replacing the computer once, now we are on the third one. Don’t even mention differentials being on “back order” despite the fact I am sure in three months they have built more than one dark horse. They obviously don’t put any priority on current customers once they have sold the car.

 

[MAT1955]

I was a School Principal for 20 years and put my self through three university degrees ending-up with a Masters of Education. I started-our running wheelbarrows of cement for a concrete forming company while in high school. Worked-up to concrete pouring crew chief. Started my own crew pouring foundations for local cottages, then framing them, then finishing them. In the winter we did interior renovations. We graduated to small cottage construction, then smaller homes and finally big custom homes. I had my own trucks, Ford Econolines to start. In the late 1990s as the Principal of one of the biggest schools in the system I and a group of like-minded colleagues battled the Board of Education as they closed one trade school after another. In one heated discussion I told the Assistant Director of Education, "The electricians, brick layers, plumbers, framers, finishing carpenters etc. I employ all out earn YOU. At the same time parents were being told the trades were "beneath" their children while statistics showed we educators that about 30% of boys and almost as many girls would be much better in a defined trade started in early high school. We were told "society" needed computer "experts" - read that $30K a year coders while the tradespeople were making $80K a year....and yes the immigrant children's parents were smacking them if they didn't get top marks while other parents were complaining the standards were too high and weren't fair. Competitive sports teams were being replaced with co-operative teams where everyone played even if they could barely walk - and everyone got medals. Geez, even the kids knew it was a sham. Everyone got scholastic certificates for everything. It was nuts! Now you can't deduct marks for late papers, correct their behavior in any way and competition is a "hurtful" word. I was considered a top educator in my day and don't recognize the system now. I KNOW this is a MUSTANG forum but there are constant comments on our forum (and all other forums, cars, boats, planes) about the quality of our vehicles - for us that's our Mustangs and the cost of them. What I know as an educator, parent, businessman would come to pass, has and I can now see that with my own eyes - all of which is confirmed by comments like Ford CEO Farley. We have taught the kids to NOT compete, NOT work hard, NOT value quality and complain.....really - it's NOT fair to have to work, anyway. They expect to make $120K a year while doing what they want, often from home and working a three day week so they can have "experiences". No wonder industry is in trouble and Mandami won in N.Y. Today's youth think socialism will save them. Nope. BTW I am a Canadian and the nonsense I described is happening here too. I was educated in both Canada and The USA - but that was back when there were expectations, not excuses when quality and hard work counted. Soooo all that considered I'm pretty satisfied with the quality of my 2024 GT Premium Convertible and have traded it in on a 2026 with active exhaust. How can I afford that - I grew-up in a era where hard work, expectations and personal integrity counted. I am the product of a work based reward system (capitalism) and am both proud of that and enjoying the results of starting with a paper route when I was 10 and working constantly until retired. As I rip through a curve in my GT, with the top down I just "smile and nod" at today's insanity and continue to rip down the road.

 

[Snowflee17]

How can that be, without getting political, when mr immigrant is not only able to survive but thrive? Homegrown seems to get left at the curb. It’s the inherent waste of excess that become discarded due to the loss of expectation.

Don't want to get political here, but what most people don't realize is that as an immigrant there are a lot of Government grants and programs to give them a leg up so to speak, where as a someone born in this country doesn't have access to them!

 

[MAT1955]

@Snowflee17 ... yes, started a while back but is now completely out of control in USA and Canada.

 

[Gregs24]

It is worth noting that in many countries, India, Pakistan, China etc where education is revered (and that includes gaining a trade) parents will sell a kidney in order to get their kids educated. They know that education is the ONLY way they will succeed as there are no safety nets in many countries like that.

Those kids then turn up as immigrants in the US and Europe and 'steal our jobs' because they have the skills or qualifications to get the jobs. Don't blame the skilled or educated immigrants for being a success, look at homegrown kids for failing to be bothered and then just moaning!

For every person who started in McDonalds cooking fries and then became CEO of McDonalds there are thousands that are still serving fries. 'I was no good at school but became a brain surgeon' is not something you hear very often.

 

[RobertWins]

It is worth noting that in many countries, India, Pakistan, China etc where education is revered (and that includes gaining a trade) parents will sell a kidney in order to get their kids educated. They know that education is the ONLY way they will succeed as there are no safety nets in many countries like that.

Those kids then turn up as immigrants in the US and Europe and 'steal our jobs' because they have the skills or qualifications to get the jobs. Don't blame the skilled or educated immigrants for being a success, look at homegrown kids for failing to be bothered and then just moaning!

For every person who started in McDonalds cooking fries and then became CEO of McDonalds there are thousands that are still serving fries. 'I was no good at school but became a brain surgeon' is not something you hear very often.

Biggest lie teachers tell kids ... "You can be anything you want."

 

[Gregs24]

Biggest lie teachers tell kids ... "You can be anything you want."

You can be anything you want if you work and use the opportunities that are available to you.

For every one of those opportunities you don't take, and for every day you don't work another door will close until there are no doors left.

 

[Alan Applegate]

I suspect it doesn't matter what you do to make a living. That is, if you save for your eventual retirement. Way too many folks—low, medium, high, and the filthy rich—never plan for the future. How many of you know folks who earn mid seven figure incomes, and have almost no savings?

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