A $17-an-hour wage doesn’t cut it anymore—especially for young workers juggling multiple jobs just to survive. Ford CEO Jim Farley heard that firsthand from his factory floor and responded by converting all temporary workers to full-time employees. “It wasn’t easy. It was expensive,” Farley said during a June interview at the Aspen Ideas Festival. “But it’s the kind of change we need.” Channeling Henry Ford’s 1914 move to raise wages so workers could afford the cars they built, Farley believes better pay strengthens both workforce stability and consumer demand. “It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy,” he said. He also called out America’s lack of investment in skilled trades, contrasting it with Germany’s robust apprenticeship system. Farley’s focus isn’t on Wall Street—he’s betting on people. “If we want a better economy,” he said, “we have to build it from the ground up.”