Trump says it's good Ford can't hire enough workers — says 'robots are going to be a factor'
The debate about AI's impact on the job market has been raging on amidst layoffs, and now President Donald Trump has entered the chat. Ford is set to layoff more than 1,500 workers at the BlueOval SK Battery Park in Glendale, Kentucky, starting in February. This decision was communicated to the workforce in a Dec. 15 letter in compliance with the U.S. Department of Labor's Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, which mandates advance notice for plant closures and mass layoffs, as reported by USA Today. Amidst growing uncertainty, Trump has said that the carmaker can't hire more people, citing robots as a factor.
Mediaite reported that Trump claimed it is “a good thing” that Ford could not hire enough workers because soon “robots are going to be a big factor.” When questioned about the CEO of Ford admitting that he can't find enough people to fill 5,000 mechanic jobs, the president replied, "I know, but that’s a good thing. That means it’s vibrant. You could also have things where you have so many people, and they can’t get jobs. It’s true, we are doing so well, it’s hard. Now what’s going to happen is people are being trained rapidly, and you’re gonna have a thing called robots, and robots are gonna be a big factor. I predict that robots are gonna be a big factor in the future, and it’s gonna help out."
This is not the first time Trump has advocated for a robot workforce. "We're going to have tremendous workforce availability. We're also going to have robots helping us. We're going to have a lot of robots helping us because we need it. And because we're going to town, we're building a lot between the AI and the auto plants. So we're going to need robots. We're going to have robots, but that's going to help us. We're going to have a tremendous workforce," he recently said.
Trump further asserted that to operate effectively, a combination of robots and human manpower is essential. While robots will be utilized, human involvement will be necessary for their operation and improvement. This dual approach is expected to create more jobs than ever before, with current employment levels in the United States reaching historic highs. Meanwhile, according to the circular released by Ford, the layoffs are expected to start on February 14 and end soon after. Pay and benefits will be provided to affected workers for a minimum of 60 days following notification of termination. During this time, they will also have access to the employee aid program.
In a Dec. 15 letter sent to plant workers, BlueOval SK CEO Michael Adams expressed gratitude to the employees for their "contributions and service to the KY 1 plant." "Production operations are expected to cease before Feb. 14, but regardless of whether you are required to come in to work, you will continue to be paid and receive your benefits through your Termination Date," the letter read.
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