Auto technician Makena Anga discussed the efforts of the automaker to deal with the increasing shortage of skilled workers on ‘Verni and Company’.
Ford is supporting the training of motor vehicle technicians with a new, large investment in its auto tech scholarship program.
The company’s philanthropist hand and Ford dealers Investing $ 4 million in the program, Ford said Ford stated that $ 5,000 will be scattered as a scholarship for 800 students with the target of working as auto technicians.
Ford Philanthropy launched the Auto Tech Scholarship Program in 2023. Arizona-based non-profit organization Techforce Foundation provides grants facilities.
Ford’s latest $ 4 million investment in auto technician scholarship is an increase of $ 2 million from last year and an increase of $ 3 million compared to 2023.
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This comes when the auto industry is struggling with the ongoing shortage of mechanics.
The demand for new auto technicians is expected to exceed 351,000 from 2025 through 2028, As A report of Techforce Foundation.
Separate data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, meanwhile, was suggested that there would be some 67,800 inaugurations for annual motor vehicle service technicians and mechanics through 2033.
“This problem is greater than Ford,” Alex Shelton, the manager of education for the future of work with Ford philanthropy, told Fox Business in an interview. “However, we want to come to the table and support Complete industryStarting in 2023, it was an opportunity for scholarship, Ford, Ford philanthropy, in school, school and career to come together to provide scholarship to students to go to school for our dealers. ,
“In the last three years, we are capable of growing it from $ 1 million to $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ 4 million this year, a $ 4 million program that will support 800 students across the country,” he said.
An auto tech student working on a vehicle (Ford Motor CO)
According to the Techforce Foundation website, a qualified motor vehicle, diesel or joint technician post-secondary program and currently present people as future students can apply for 800 required-based scholarships, according to the Texforce Foundation website. He must have completed the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA).
Eligible schools for auto tech scholarship program are scattered in many areas in America, List Techforce is shown on the website of Foundation.
Shelton told Fox Business that this is a “tuition-first scholarship”, but it is “not limited to tuition.”
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According to the Fund “from Auto Tech Scholarship Program, you can also roll in other aspects of student education like childcare, gas, transportation, housing and food.
“There is a pile of obstacles that students can cope with their educational journey, and sometimes it is a pair of $ 100 that makes a student out of the track or forces a student to get out of school, so by getting some extra money available for them, we hope that it not only allows students to go to school, but remains in school to start their career.”
Makena Anga, the previous recipient of one of Ford’s scholarship, told Fox Business that her grant helped her give her an opportunity to stay in school to become an auto technician.
Maquenna Enga is a past recipient of Ford scholarship (Ford Motor CO)
“Trade school is not cheap,” she said. “I think no school is the cheapest thing after high school, but the trade school has accelerated, and it takes you to the workforce rapidly, but this also means that in some cases you will have to pay the tuition a little faster, and so it gave me a chance that I can stay in the school and really chase the trade school and with that additional help, I am walking with it.”
According to Anga, Ford has helped a great help in advancing the goals of his career. She eventually wants to work in Formula One.
“Ford has been very large, especially in my long -term goals, because Ford performance is in NASCAR and Formula One, and they have a lot of connections and ways that people know and meet people,” she said.
Anga also said that the scholarship was motivator while staying in school.
“When you get a scholarship that really wants you to do good and are behind you and push you to move forward, it’s good for that extra small support, ‘Oh, they believe in me so I should keep doing this. I should also believe in myself.”
According to Shelton, members of the next generation of the next generation auto technicians are expected to exit their auto tech scholarship program.
Auto tech students are looking at the bottom of a vehicle (Ford Motor CO)
Previous scholarship recipients include high school graduates And people said to change the paths of career later in life, among others, he said.
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Shelton also told Fox Business, “This is not a career way that I think a lot of people see when they think of an auto technician,” Shelton also told Fox Business. “There is a lot of technology, it is woven in the entirety of state -of -the -art technology a vehicle, And vehicles are becoming more sophisticated and smarter every single day with infotainment for electric vehicles. ,
“There is a need for individuals who want to work with their hands, but also the mixture that with this exciting technical component, and so I think the career is changing, and we are hoping that this scholarship provides a financial support and it allows for students to overcome obstacles, but also means to enter the industry that you get a wonderful chance.”
More than 634,000 people worked in America Automatic mechanics By 2024, according to Ibisworld.
