The blue collar worker definition indicates that these workers perform primarily manual labor. Other similar classifications include white collar, pink collar, black collar and more. Some jobs are for unskilled labor but today’s blue-collar workers often need substantial specialized training and earn high wages. In today’s dynamic workforce landscape, the recruitment and retention of blue-collar workers present unique challenges and opportunities.
- The 1926 Montgomery Ward mail-order catalog featured the “Guaranteed Work Shirt,” described as a “big tough shirt of firm heavy chambray.” It came in two colors.
- Blue-collar jobs have played a vital role in shaping the American economy and workforce for centuries.
- These changes set the stage for the development of blue-collar jobs as a major part of the American economy.
- Blue-collar employment operates within a framework of legal regulations and statistical trends that shape the labor market and ensure the well-being of workers.
- While traditionally dominated by white-collar roles, the tech sector is now seeing an increase in blue-collar jobs.
Why Do We Say White Collar and Blue Collar?
This growth led to an increase in demand for blue-collar workers, including those in construction and manufacturing. In addition to creating jobs, these industries also contributed to the development of new technologies and innovations, such as the growth of the automobile industry. As we now know, blue-collar refers typically to manual labor, and as such blue-collar workers would often wear blue clothing — chiefly blue denim clothing, chambray shirts, overalls, or boiler suits.
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Industries with routine, repetitive tasks, such as manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture, are more likely to see automation affecting blue-collar jobs. Prior to industrialization, monarchs and the nobility distinguished themselves with elaborate starched, ruffled collars. The more elaborate the attire, the more apparent that they performed no manual labor.
White Collar vs. Blue Collar – Meaning & Difference
Outsourcing entails moving a business function (often administrative) out of the firm, and many companies do this with human resources or marketing. Offshoring occurs when a company moves some of the business (managerial, administrative, or production) to another country. In fact, after China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, many manufacturing jobs were relocated there from the United States. The majority of American jobs lost to offshoring have been in blue-collar manufacturing, but white-collar workers have not been immune to this trend.
And the latest entrants are the “no-collar workers”—tech-industry professionals who eschew collars altogether. Nuclear technicians, elevator installers, and subway operators earn more than $70,000 per year, which is higher than the average college graduate earns after graduation. Higher positions often require higher educational credentials, licenses, and special certifications. Typical blue-collar professions include welding, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, maintenance, trucking, warehousing, and much more.
The term “longshoreman” originated from “alongshoreman,” which referred to a worker who toiled along the shore loading and unloading cargo from ships. Over time, the term was condensed to “longshoreman” to describe individuals who work on the docks handling cargo. To win the election, where did the term blue collar come from John is going to need to win over the blue-collar workers of the mid-west. Beginning in the 1970s, Europe and the U.S. entered a period economists named deindustrialization. Automation and plant shutdowns whittled down great armies of industrial workers to skeleton crews.
These jobs have also played a significant role in American politics, particularly in discussions of economic policy and job creation. Politicians often appeal to blue collar workers by promising to support industries that provide these jobs and to protect American workers from outsourcing and other economic threats. Overall, the post-war period was a time of growth and expansion for blue-collar industries, as new technologies and industries emerged, and suburbanization created new markets and opportunities for workers. These changes set the stage for the development of blue-collar jobs as a major part of the American economy. As the demand for labor increased and the conditions of work became more difficult, workers began to organize and advocate for better wages, hours, and working conditions. Labor unions emerged as a powerful force during the Industrial Revolution, with workers in factories, mines, and other industries banding together to demand greater rights and protections.
A person’s social class is defined by many factors, including income, wealth, education, location of residence, and family background. Occupation is also a main determinant of social class in terms of prestige (for example, surgeon versus construction worker), education required, and earnings received. White-collar jobs traditionally have paid well and carried more prestige than blue-collar jobs, contributing to common attributions of working-class or middle-class Americans. In the mid-twentieth century many working-class Americans had relatively good blue-collar primary market jobs in manufacturing. In contrast, working-class jobs around the year 2000 were more common in the service sector. Those secondary market jobs are not prestigious or well paid, in stark contrast to the growth of quality white-collar jobs for middle-class and upper-class Americans.