Jobs in skilled trades are too 'difficult to access': Carhartt CEO
Brian Sozzi ·
Executive Editor
Fri, January 16, 2026 at 12:32 PM EST
3 min read
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Carhartt, the 137-year-old workwear maker, depends on workers in factories and mechanic shops to buy their hoodies and jackets.
The decline of blue-collar jobs presents a problem for the Detroit-based seller.
"Jobs in the skilled trades, technical workers are really undervalued jobs in our country right now and difficult to access," Carhartt CEO Linda Hubbard said on Yahoo Finance's Market Catalysts (video above). Hubbard, a trained accountant who has been with the family-owned Carhartt since 2002, landed the top job in 2024.
Carhartt has teamed up with fellow Detroit company Ford (F) to address the issue. The companies — founded a mile apart — announced this week a multiyear strategic partnership that includes a new Ford Super Duty Carhartt-themed truck in 2027, apparel that supports the skilled trades, and workforce development and community building.
It's a natural extension of the longtime relationship: Carhartt outfitted Ford factory workers from the 1920s through the 1970s.
"Part of our mission, of course, is to make great gear to serve and protect the people that are doing these really difficult jobs," Hubbard said. "But also part of our mission is to continue to help them in different ways. And some of that is to just show there's opportunity out there for new people interested in the trades."
It's a tie-up that's vital at this juncture in the US economy.
The essential economy, as Ford CEO Jim Farley coined it in recent months, comprises critical industries like construction, utilities, freight and delivery, agriculture, transportation, oil and gas, energy, first responders, and equipment manufacturing.
These industries account for $12 trillion of gross domestic product, 95 million jobs, and 3 million businesses.
This area of the economy continues to experience labor shortages as older workers age out and Gen Z views jobs such as loading trains as too demanding. Meanwhile, some existing workers lack the skills experts say are necessary to stay current as AI technology becomes embedded throughout the supply chain.
According to a survey by PRT Staffing, 17.4% of companies in manufacturing report worker shortages. The problem may get worse before it gets better, even as Ford and others invest in expanding the talent pool. PRT projects the need to fill 3.8 million manufacturing jobs over the next decade.
Last September, Ford announced workforce development investments totaling more than $5 million through 2026. The money will flow into 15 Ford Future Builders Labs in Michigan and Tennessee to bring hands-on learning to K-12 students. The company added that it will partner with SkillsUSA to expand advanced manufacturing and automotive programs for high school students.
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Farley said it's critical that the US begin to lay more groundwork to fill these essential jobs.
"That is what is happening right now. It'll be inflation. It'll be, these projects take twice as long," Farley told me at Ford's Pro Accelerate summit in September.
He added, "This morning when I woke up, there were 6,000 [open] bays in our dealerships."
Brian Sozzi is Yahoo Finance's Executive Editor and a member of Yahoo Finance's editorial leadership team. Follow Sozzi on X @BrianSozzi, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Tips on stories? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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