Blue-Collar vs. White-Collar: What's the Difference?

Blue-Collar vs. White-Collar: An Overview

Workers and jobs are often divided into categories using different classifications. One of the most common ways to classify them is with collar colors. Two of the best recognized of these are blue-collar and white-collar.

Both terms have meanings that evoke different images of the type of work involved and how people are paid.

For instance, white-collar jobs can be found in office settings in clerical, administrative, managerial, and executive roles. People in these jobs normally earn an annual salary. By contrast, blue-collar jobs generally involve manual labor and workers are paid either by the hour or on a piecework basis.

Other common distinctions between the two include different educational preparation and social classes. These differences are often stereotypes and are not necessarily accurate.

Blue-Collar Workers

The term blue-collar worker references individuals who engage in hard manual labor, typically in the agriculture, manufacturing, construction, mining, or maintenance sectors of the economy. Most of these people historically wore blue-collared shirts when they worked.

Some blue-collar workers may have to do physically demanding or exhausting tasks. They may work outdoors and/or with heavy machinery or animals. Workers may be skilled or unskilled. Skills can be acquired on the job or, more commonly, at a trade school.

Some of the most common blue-collar jobs include:

• Welders
• Mechanics
• Electricians
• Construction workers

Some may be more specialized, such as power plant operators, power distributors, and nuclear power plant operators.

The way blue-collar workers are paid depends on the industry in which they work. Some individuals are paid on an hourly basis. Other workers are paid by the number of pieces they complete in a day, which is typical for those who work in factory settings.

White-Collar Workers

American writer Upton Sinclair is partially responsible for the modern understanding of the white-collar job, having used the term "white-collar" in his writing in conjunction with administrative work. 

White-collar workers are often found in office settings. As the name implies, they are generally suit-and-tie workers who wear white-collared or tailored shirts. Their jobs may involve working at a desk in clerical, administrative, managerial, or executive settings. Unlike blue-collar workers, white-collar workers usually don't have physically taxing jobs.

The following are examples of white-collar workers:

• An administrative assistant in an office
• A data entry clerk
• The manager of a marketing department

Workers in white-collar jobs often receive annual salaries over hourly wages. This is a fixed amount that may or may not factor in a specified number of hours. This means that paystubs highlight salary for a particular pay period rather than the number of hours worked.

Key Differences

The differences between the terms blue- and white-collar showcase how we have historically perceived various industries, individuals' educational attainment, their dress in the workplace, and their social class. But keep in mind that both blue-collar and white-collar jobs are critical to keeping the economy humming and for the smooth functioning of society.

Perception of Industries

White-collar jobs are generally more sought-after and thought to be more prestigious than blue-collar ones. That's because society often perceives office jobs to be more desirable than those in the manufacturing or agricultural sector because that type of work requires manual or taxing labor.

If a country's infrastructure is developed to the degree where workers are offered safe desk jobs that require mental focus rather than physical exertion, the nation is empowered to remove the burden of physicality from the requirements of earning a wage.

Education

Blue-collar workers may not attain the same educational level as those who work white-collar jobs. That's because office work typically requires post-secondary education. For instance, a company looking for accountants generally requires new hires to have an undergraduate degree in accounting or finance. By contrast, blue-collar jobs may require skills that can be obtained either on the job or by going to trade school.

Attire

The historical basis for the two terms may not have changed radically from their origins. Blue-collar originates from the common appearance of a manual worker's attire. This includes blue jeans, overalls, or boilersuits. Dark colors, such as blue, help hide dirt and other materials that may soil clothes as a result of physical work.

White-collar work, on the other hand, is associated with white button-down shirts adorned with ties worn by business people. People with such attire sit at desks and move around offices, with little exposure to efforts that could soil their clothes.

Social Classes

These terms also carry the perception that white-collar workers not only make more money than blue-collar workers, but that they also belong to different social classes.

White-collar workers are perceived to have a higher status because they may earn more and may be better educated. Blue-collar workers are believed to stand lower on the social ladder because they do manual labor and may not be as educated.

Remember, this isn't always the case.

Special Considerations

The Industrial Revolution ushered in the era of the blue-collar worker when individuals began moving from rural areas in search of work. The white-collar job, on the other hand, rose in prominence in the 20th century.

When farming became industrialized, the result was an increase in unemployment. People began flocking to large cities where factories needed labor to operate machinery and work on the production line.

To say one person works a blue-collar job while another has a white-collar job implies a difference in earnings. The blue-collar worker may work for hourly wages or receive payment per item produced or assembled. They may be part of a union that maintains the security of hours and future work.

Likewise, there may be insecurity about the stability of the blue-collar worker's job, whether it be dependent on a contractual agreement with a third party or temporary.

A white-collar worker, on the other hand, may have obtained their job through a more stringent hiring process and may be more difficult to fire. The income of those who don't earn a salary may be contingent on maintaining a client base, such as private practice lawyers and physicians. But their position may be stable since the work requires specific skills.

The line between these types of workers is fading. As blue-collar job technology increases, so does the amount of education needed and the subsequent pay that workers—for example, electricians and cable installers—receive.

And when some white-collar job markets become saturated, employees don't make much more than their blue-collar counterparts. That's because the competition for positions allows employers to offer lower salaries, or workers take jobs for which they are overqualified.

The Bottom Line

Historically, wage earners were divided into categories based on the type of attire they wore. Blue-collar workers wore blue-colored clothing for work in fields and factories. White-collar workers wore white shirts beneath suits, a requirement of office jobs.

While these distinctions still exist, the line between these two categories is fading. While blue-collar jobs were once less desirable compared to white-collar jobs, people are changing the way they think about work. As such, being a blue-collar worker doesn't mean that you're any less than someone who works a white-collar job in an office setting.