What is Blue Collar ? Definition and Meaning

A blue collar is generally referred to a worker who performs manual work for hourly wages. Mostly the blue-collar workers do physical work which needs strength rather than office work. They work in factories and workshops which requires physical labor.

For any work that is to be termed as blue collar, it should be output generative and the result should be identifiable. It’s a type of employment where the compensation or the wages are given an hourly basis. The employees working in construction sites, manufacturing units, automobile workshops, and mining are regarded as blue collar workers. They are categorized as the members of working class.

Earlier in 1920’s, the workers who were confined to blue collar jobs wore dark-colored clothes which couldn’t depict the dirt so easily. While, in contrast, all the working men from the offices wore white pressed collar shirts, as they weren’t subjected to any manual work and all they have to do was mental work.

There were many types of colored collar categories of workers. The green colored collar workers refer to those working in sustainability and conservation sectors whereas gold colored collar were the ones specialized in fields of law and medicine. Pink collars were the ones who provide services such as salespeople, waiters, secretaries and school teachers. Engineers were referred to as grey collars, who are officially white but as they sometimes have to perform physical tasks just like the blue collar ones.

Originally, a blue collared job did not require much education profile or even expertise in the fields quite opposite to the white collared jobs which required all these. Although the blue collared jobs were always entitled to manufacture or build something, which saw many workers in this field.

A blue collar job isn’t an easy one and not the low paid also. Do not mistake the income by the color of the worker’s collar. Even few blue collar jobs are paid more than white-collar ones. Although the blue collar jobs don’t require a 3 or 4-year college degree, some of the blue collar jobs require high professional skills and specialized training. In this 21st century, it would be foolish to decide the level of income by the color of the collar.

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