Meaning of Blue Collar
The term “blue collar” is a frequently used descriptor of employees who have their jobs in manual labour and most often within industry, manufacturing or skilled trades. 1928, the phrase originated from the tradition of assigning people colours according to their work shirt colours and blue was probably a common colour for uniforms in jobs described as manual labour.
Such jobs often involve physically demanding work that relies on skills obtained either through practical experience or vocational training. These occupations are such as roles in construction, manufacturing, maintenance transportation etc places where workers do more hands-on work. Blue-collar workers are unlike “white-collar” workers who get engaged in professional, managerial or administrative work that performs less physical labour and more desk-based tasks or intellectual jobs.
Blue-collar and white-collar have become less rigid regarding the distinction over time, with the workforce being recognized today as diverse, including people having both physical skills and cognitive ones. Even with these changes, the term “blue collar” is still used to describe those people who carry out work involving manual labour and often very necessary tasks in many sectors.
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