Ford CEO warned that ‘AI will leave a lot of white-collar people behind’ and urged shift to the industry

Over the past year, CEOs and founders have sounded the alarm, warning that AI could lead to job losses and dramatically change the workforce.

Ford CEO Jim Farley is one of the leaders who have warned that white-collar workers should brace for the potentially transformative impact of artificial intelligence, arguing that some should consider business instead.

“I think AI and new technologies are having an asymmetric impact on our economy, where a lot of things are helped a lot and a lot of things are hurt,” Farley said in an interview with Walter Isaacson, a journalist and author, at the Aspen Ideas Festival in June 2025. “When you look at these opportunities in our economy, it’s very clear that the technology that we’ve seen has left a lot of people behind. AI is going to leave a lot of white-collar people behind.”

Isaacson pressed Farley on how the education system would respond to new technology.

“We need to go back to basics, to business schools, and we need a society that doesn’t look down on people like this,” Farley said.

Trade schools teach students specific skills that allow them to pursue certain careers, such as working as a welder, plumber, carpenter, beautician, and more. Compared to a traditional four-year college, trade schools are generally more affordable, shorter in duration, and provide more hands-on experience.

What jobs are most protected from artificial intelligence?

Recent research has indicated that the jobs least likely to be replaced by AI in the future are those that involve manual labor.

A study published by Microsoft earlier this year, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, found that some of the jobs least likely to be affected by AI are roofers, massage therapists, and tire builders.

However, other researchers have found that AI has not been used to replace workers, at least not yet. A study by the Yale Budget Lab found that since the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, there has been little disruption to the labor market due to the new technology.

The potential for rapid workforce disruption is not without precedent. Economists have compared the concerns of AI workers today to the loss of manufacturing jobs during the wave of globalization in the 1990s and 2000s, a shift that grew the U.S. economy overall but devastated communities of workers whose work moved abroad.

“The shock could be very fast and very deep,” Chen Zhao, chief global strategist at Alpine Macroeconomics, recently warned. “You could have a very large displacement of workers who need to be cared for in one way or another.”

The rise of artificial intelligence and other societal shifts mean Farley is not alone in expressing more doubts about the value of a college degree. A Gallup poll conducted earlier this year found that the percentage of Americans who said college is “very important” fell from 75% in 2010 to just 35% in 2025.

Despite this survey, families with college degrees still tend to significantly outperform those without. A New York Federal Reserve study this year indicated that the wage premium for those with college degrees over those without is growing, from about 60% in 2010 to about 68% in 2024.