Ford pay in 1930?

[Ruth]

We've all heard the story of Ol' Henry increasing his worker's pay $5 a day in 1914 but what did his worker get in 1930, the era of our cars? Curious mind are asking.

Thanks

[nkaminar]

The average yearly income of a worker in 1930 was $750. Henry made $14 million in 1930. (Source: https://ivypanda.com/essays/ford-mot...onomic-crisis/) To put that in today's money, Henry would have an income of 1.4 billion today.

The depression was a hard time for workers at Ford. See https://nhdinwi.weebly.com/uploads/2...ouge_plant.pdf.

[ronn]

I am confused nk, you are saying money today is worth 100x what it was worth in 1930?

seems hard to believe, even with todays costs.

Ive seen a multiple of 18x, not 100.

[Jeff/Illinois]

I read just the other day that a dollar today has the same buying power as a nickel had, in 1930.

Inflation has increased 1,707% from then to today.

I won't go into the 'why' but you can kinda guess who is responsible and it ain't 'us'. 'They' are and always have been the sole creators of inflation.

[Dan in MI]

My Grandfather worked at the Rouge from 1919 to 1957 (off a few years for the Depression). I have his ledger showing his hours worked and pay. Unfortunately it starts in March 1935, he was getting paid $5 a day then. No shift premium or time and a half for Saturday, just $5 for every day worked. It looks like it went up to $6 a day around October 1935.

[Y-Blockhead]

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Originally Posted by Dan in MI

My Grandfather worked at the Rouge from 1919 to 1957 (off a few years for the Depression). I have his ledger showing his hours worked and pay. Unfortunately it starts in March 1935, he was getting paid $5 a day then. No shift premium or time and a half for Saturday, just $5 for every day worked. It looks like it went up to $6 a day around October 1935.

So the pay stay the same, $5 per day, from 1914 until 1935? Wowser.

[WTSHNN]

Here you go:
https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

[ldreeg]

A 1 OZ Gold Eagle was a $20.00 gold coin. Gold Spot today is $2051.00 per OZ. So a $20.00 Gold Eagle back then will still have the same purchasing power as $2000.00 today.

[WTSHNN]

There's no easy way to answer the original question, unfortunately. Yes he famously started the $5 day in 1914 but not every employee was eligible for that. Ford was also forced to lower wages during the depression. Somewhere there is a breakdown of how much wages were each year but not sure where.

-Tim

[Dan in MI]

I just found this on the internet. It will help explain the ups and downs of wages in the late 20’s early 30’s.

[nkaminar]

My estimate of what Henry would be making today is mostly based on what other rich people make today. The difference between the workers and CEO's has increased. If you look just at inflation rates, Henry's 15 million would be $273 million. I think Henry made more later on, even while the Ford company was loosing money during the depression. Still, $273 million pays for a lot of camping trips.

[jack backer]

The profits from the model T made Henry Ford one of the richest men in the world. It kept Ford Motor Company afloat for 17 years of no profit..

By late 1930 the question wasn’t wages, it was if you were working.Ford closed a majority of the Assembly plants in 30/31 with the resulting impact on the Rouge.The A lost market share at the time too,Chevrolets 6 cylinder was hurting Ford sales. Another amazing fact about T profits.. it carried Ford through the development of the V8..the complexity of the mold (it had 46 cores) for the V8 block led to a 96% casting rejection rate in ‘32, a problem that would have drove other companies into insolvency.

[ronn]

so Jeff quotes a multiple of 17, which I was close to and the gold piece equals 100x.

clear as mud............. well I guess the reality is gold went up way more then inflation, so was good to hold gold. all depends what you are comparing it too.

so 5.00 a day then and what are todays avg wages for say, working at ford gm or chrysler? We prob went way up, due to unions, which I dont know if they really existed in 1930? doubt it.......

getting back to the original question- wages stayed stagnant for those 16 yrs.

[Bill G]

At $5 per day and 6 days a week x 52 weeks = $1,560 per year. For a 5-day week, it would be $1,300 per year.

[Gene F]

FYI, I was just reading my proxy for the Ford stockholders meeting. The current CEO's total 2022 compensation is estimated at $20MM/yr. William Clay Ford, Jr was about $17MM

[jack backer]

The Rouge alone had up to 80k employees at the time.. Ford made payroll in cash, weekly.Imagine the pressure that was. Ford also sold their cars to the dealers for cash. Ford would lend money to the banks so they could loan it to the dealer, who had to pay Ford cash for inventory.. basically ford made interest on the money they were paid, as they were paid it.
Folks like to think Ford cared about his cars.. he did, in a way, he needed them to sell.Ford Motor Company, especially during the T days was all about the money, like most businesses

[Jeff/Illinois]

Originally Posted by jack backer

................. Another amazing fact about T profits.. it carried Ford through the development of the V8..the complexity of the mold (it had 46 cores) for the V8 block led to a 96% casting rejection rate in ‘32, a problem that would have drove other companies into insolvency.

Wow Jack I guess I didn't know that, that the reject rate on castings was so high

I just read the other day that the CEO of Toyota, Aiko Toyoda, makes $700,000 per year, and they limit his pay to no more than like 15 times what the lowest paid guy in the shop makes.....the guy pushing a broom.

Compare that to the CEO of Ford, Jim Farley (Chris Farley's cousin) like Gene said, makes $22 million per year. That is insane. Plus he sucks as CEO him and Mark Fields are running that company into the ground with their poor decision making.

I am a Ford shareholder too, and hate the way these guys run that company they are idiots.

What FORD needs, and it is too late now, is TOYOTA management. They plan for 5-10 years down the road, not just for the next quarter like the clowns at the American companies do. To make the shareholders happy.

Farley should have gone to clown school with his cousin...............

[JoeCB]

Originally Posted by jack backer

The Rouge alone had up to 80k employees at the time.. Ford made payroll in cash, weekly.Imagine the pressure that was.

I remember accompanying my grandfather to the Rouge pay office on Miller Road to collect his pay, cash in a small manilla envelope. At the Highland Park plant it's told that there is a tunnel between the nearby bank and the administration building to facilitate the safe transfer of cash. Cash was king and Ford had no taste for bankers.

Joe B

[jack backer]

Originally Posted by JoeCB

I remember accompanying my grandfather to the Rouge pay office on Miller Road to collect his pay, cash in a small manilla envelope. At the Highland Park plant it's told that there is a tunnel between the nearby bank and the administration building to facilitate the safe transfer of cash. Cash was king and Ford had no taste for bankers.

Joe B

What’s interesting about Mr Ford was his ‘double standard’. He was the face of the company, the Elon Musk of his time. With his newspaper he railed on about Jews and the mistrust of bankers, yet Ford Motor profited from the banks, handily in the T days, and the banks were a source of revenue during the bad days..Ernest Liebold was Fords primary “money” man was a Jew.

History and book writers need a hook, a sensational event or ideal about the subject to sell their work. Henry Ford is not treated kindly by those people, people who couldn’t do a fraction of what Ford accomplished.

[ronn]

all interesting facts.......

what henry did at the beginning of his tenure, was to allow Americans to buy cars, due to his high pay. Packard employees were making half of what Henry paid, for example and thus, everyone enjoyed working for ford and Im sure, did what they were told.
Henry created much more then cars, a higher standard of living for many citizens.

[jack backer]

It was a shrewd marketing ploy as well. The appeal of the “Universal Car” made by a manufacturer that cared about their employees added to Fords bottom line. The T was in the right place at the right time, and was effectively marketed for maximum return.

Did you ever wondered why Ford wanted to continue producing the T long after the customer base demanded more? .. He, and his company were so rich they could.

What’s sad is the car that replaced the T went out of style well before Ford recouped its development cost. From a pure profit motivated perspective the A was a failure.