"Some economists credit carmaker Henry Ford for jump-starting the American middle class in the 20th century when, in January 1914, he hiked factory wages to $5, more than double the average wage for an eight-hour work day. More than 100 years later, facing the reality of many employees "barely getting by," Ford CEO Jim Farley said he took a page out of the founder's playbook."
""The older workers who'd been at the company said, 'None of the young people want to work here. Jim, you pay $17 an hour, and they are so stressed,'" Farley said. Farley learned some workers also held jobs at Amazon, where they worked for eight hours before clocking in to a seven-hour shift at Ford, sleeping for only three or four hours."
Henry Ford raised factory wages to $5 in 1914 to attract a stable workforce and stimulate demand. More than a century later, Ford CEO Jim Farley found young employees working multiple jobs, suffering inadequate sleep, and still earning low pay. Ford moved to convert temporary workers into full-time employees, offering higher wages, profit-sharing, and better health coverage under a 2019 UAW agreement that allows conversion after two years. The company acknowledged the change was difficult and costly but framed it as necessary to improve worker welfare and workforce stability.
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