America is running low on mechanics, electricians, and plumbers.
Ford thinks it can help solve the problem by getting younger workers under the hood of its new pickup trucks, enticing them with free Carhartt gear and tools.
The automaker and 137-year-old workwear brand told Business Insider they’re launching a multi-year partnership to address what both call a looming workforce crisis.
The partnership aims to train thousands of blue collar workers, a bet that the two Detroit-based brands can reinvigorate America’s manual labor pipeline.
The partnership includes three main components: opening a ToolBank USA location in Detroit that will lend 25,000 tools annually to workers and volunteers, outfitting Ford’s auto tech scholars with free Carhartt workwear, and launching a co-branded products for the public.
Ford is also donating an F-150 to ToolBank to extend the program’s mobile reach. The two companies declined to disclose the financial terms.
The partnership comes as Ford CEO Jim Farley has warned that America will face a critical shortage of skilled tradespeople within five to ten years. The company calls these workers the backbone of the “essential economy.”
For Ford, the deficit is top of mind, as the company needs thousands of auto technicians to staff its dealership service bays. Right now, the company says it has 5,000 open positions at its dealerships, including six-figure technician jobs.
“The problems with the essential economy are problems for all of us,” Farley said in September at Ford’s inaugural workforce development summit, which convened industry leaders and policymakers to address the trades pipeline crisis. “We stopped investing in the trades. If Henry Ford saw what has become of us, I think he’d be kind of mad.”
In a phone interview with Business Insider, Mary Culler, the president of Ford Philanthropy, said part of Ford’s mechanic pipeline issue is a perception problem.
Ford’s current vehicle lineup includes advanced driver-assist systems like backup cameras, lane monitors, and autonomous features — making today’s auto repair roles far more technical than traditional mechanic jobs.
“People we talk to tell us, ‘I didn’t realize it wasn’t the greasy job I expected,'” Culler said. “People don’t understand that it’s a very high-tech job, it’s a very computer-intensive job.”
Ford Philanthropy has been offering $5,000 scholarships to trade- school-level technicians through TechForce Foundation, a third-party nonprofit that provides scholarships for skilled trades education. Now, participants will also receive head-to-toe Carhartt gear, including pants, shirts, and vests.
Student applicants must prove they’re studying the auto technology industries to be eligible.
“Some of this work is put in the philanthropic realm,” Culler added. “But this is a business imperative for the future of the economy and our country. We really need to close this gap on these skill trades.”
So far, the program hasn’t yet kept pace with Ford’s needs. The company has trained 1,400 technicians through TechForce since 2018 — filling less than a third of its current 5,000 open positions in seven years.
But recent jobs numbers show there is growing interest in the sector, according to LinkedIn data released last year. Half way through the year, many of the fastest-growing job titles for young workers were blue-collar, like construction workers, electricians, and mining workers.
For mechanics, cost can be another barrier, as mechanics typically need to buy or rent their own thousand-dollar toolkits.
Culler said Ford provides wraparound support including tool kits and transportation to training facilities. The automaker is also working to expand participants’ sense of career possibilities beyond traditional dealership roles.
“We’ve taken some of the scholars to F1 and Nascar races to show them that it might not be a dealership where they end up working,” Culler said. “You could work for a race team.”
For Carhartt, the partnership serves dual purposes: recruiting workers for its Kentucky and Tennessee manufacturing facilities, and cultivating what it hopes could be lifetime customers. Someone who starts wearing Carhartt gear at age 20 as a Ford tech scholar could be a customer for the next 40 years.
Carhartt doesn’t require four-year degrees at its plants and has partnered with organizations like the National Center for Construction and Engineering Research to connect high schoolers with trades careers.
“To me, it’s a bigger calling to amplify people who wear Carhartt,” Linda Hubbard, CEO of Carhartt, told Business Insider. “You might start out as a laborer in the trades, but you could end up owning your own business. I see a lot of these folks working their way up from the field into management into CEO positions.”
Hubbard said she wants Carhartt outfitting those workers throughout their careers, from first day at the repair shop, to their last day running their own companies. Ford, meanwhile, hopes those same workers choose its trucks as their daily drivers for decades.
The commercial partnership will extend to consumer products too.
Carhartt will launch Ford co-branded apparel, while Ford will unveil a Super Duty Carhartt edition truck. Both arrive in the back half of 2026 — the companies declined to share pricing or additional product details.
Both brands are betting their Detroit heritage and cultural cachet can make trades careers more appealing to younger workers.
“We’re raising the perception and elevating the importance of these jobs,” Culler said. “But there’s a real gap. We know there’s a real crisis.
“Carhartt is super cool, we think Ford is super cool. Hopefully we can get the younger generation to recognize this is a real opportunity.”
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