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White Collar vs. Blue Collar
“White-collar” and “blue-collar” are terms that have strong connotations – partly because they bring vivid images to our minds.
The white-collar worker wears a suit and white shirt to work, their white-collar peeking out below a blazer. The blue-collar worker, on the other hand, has their blue overall collar protecting them from dirt as they do manual labor.
Often, the blue-collar worker is perceived to make less money, be less educated, and belong to a lower social class than his or her white-collar colleague. But are these assumptions of white collar vs. blue collar still relevant based on how our society currently functions?
The main difference between blue collar and white collar is that they refer to two different categories of workers. The term blue collar refers to workers who are traditionally associated with manual work, while the term white collar refers to workers in office environments and professional employment.
The term blue collar has originated as a result of the hard-wearing blue clothing workers who engage in manufacturing, trade-focused tasks, or construction wear. They usually wear denim clothing hard enough to hold out against physical work. Meanwhile, white collar jobs are associated with businesspeople and office employees who represent the desk-based forms of employment.
What is a “White Collar” Worker?
The general definition of a white-collar worker is someone who works in an office at a desk. The term white-collar worker was first applied to people who did administrative work. However, the term has now gradually been expanded to include anyone in an office environment whose job requires clerical, administrative, or managerial duties. Stereotypically, a white-collar worker’s job description would not include physical labor.
The coronavirus pandemic has brought another layer of connotation to the term white-collar worker. As countries enforced stay-at-home policies, many people had to do their jobs remotely. A white-collar worker would find this task relatively easy – their job can generally be done remotely, as it is not site-specific.
Similarities Between Blue Collar and White Collar
-The job market of any country is a combination of both blue collar and white collar workers.
-Both types of workers provide a service and earn their wages.
Difference Between Blue Collar and White Collar
Blue collar workers are traditionally associated with manual labor, while white collar workers are linked to office environments and professional employments.
The differences in connotation between white collar and blue collar reflect how Western societies used to perceive the service industry in comparison to the manufacturing and agricultural industries.
The office setting was seen as being a superior work setting as it reflects a focus on mental attention and is safer for the worker. The white-collar worker was seen as having more responsibilities and a more important role in the economy. This reflects the idea that a white-collar worker should belong to a higher, more educated social class, and deserves to be paid more for his or her work.
In the 21st century, however, these distinctions blur and are perhaps not as important as they once were. Great innovation is being done in integrated workspaces, like Elon Musk’s SpaceX, where the physicists, engineers, and manufacturers all work on the same factory floor. These teams work with a horizontal organizational structure. More people are now acknowledging the skill and mental work that goes into traditionally blue-collar industries, like manufacturing and agriculture.
Work setting. The most obvious one is that a white collar worker works at an office, while blue collar workers can work in various non-office settings, such as construction sites, production lines, on the road etc.
Type of labor. While white collar workers may often use their hands to do their job (e.g. data entry clerk), they most often don’t rely on their physical abilities like blue collar workers do. Manual labor is a characteristic of blue collar jobs.
Pay. White collar jobs tend to pay better than blue collar jobs. But, there are exceptions – for example, a skilled machine operator might make more money than a bank teller.
Education. Many white collar jobs require degrees, so workers in these professions are usually more educated than blue collar workers.
Legal regulations. For example, in the U.S., white collar workers are exempt from FLSA (Fair Labor Standards Act), while most blue collar workers aren’t.
Roles and Responsibilities
White-collar jobs usually have roles that require skills that can only be achieved through formal education. Take, for example, a restaurant – the waitress at the restaurant can get on-the-job training for her blue-collar job, while the accountant will need a formal education qualification.
The distinction between the types of responsibilities also blurs. A construction site foreman has a blue-collar job, but their responsibilities require leadership and managerial skills – responsibilities traditionally ascribed to white-collar professions.
A useful distinction might be that the blue-collar job definition doesn’t specify the skill level or the type of pay workers receive. Blue-collar workers can be skilled or unskilled, waged or salaried. More unskilled workers do blue-collar work, so a blue-collar job has a connotation of requiring fewer skills.
Salary and Benefits
White-collar jobs tend to pay better than blue-collar jobs. But again, there are exceptions. For example, a skilled machine operator (blue-collar) might make more money than a bank teller (white-collar).
It is common for white-collar jobs to offer an annual salary based on a consistent 40-hour workweek. Also, many white-collar workers receive a pension or medical aid benefits from their employers. There is often certain job security that goes along with a white-collar job.
In many instances, blue-collar jobs offer an hourly wage and are assigned a certain number of hours or shifts per week. Blue-collar workers tend to receive fewer benefits from employers, and a decrease in hours or shifts can result in financial insecurity. However, both professional categories can earn high wages based on experience, skills, and position. In modern society, the connotation of a blue-collar worker belonging to a lower socio-economic class is, therefore, outdated.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]
