What are Blue Collar Workers?

Blue collar workers are people who engage in basically labor-intensive work or jobs requiring far more physical labor. Such workers are found within sectors like manufacturing, construction, and maintenance. Typical examples include factory workers, construction workers, mechanics, plumbers, welders, carpenters, and assembly line workers.

While white collar employees perform most of their work duties in the office, blue collar employees face more practical difficulties in the course of their daily jobs. Their jobs are basically characterized by repetitive tasks, weightlifting, and long hours of standing, especially in outdoor environments where safety risks can be difficult to tackle.

Generally, blue collar workers receive relatively lower salaries than their white-collar counterparts because such workers have fewer chances to pursue higher education or specialized training.

Understanding the Color Classification

• Blue Collar vs. White Collar: Blue collar jobs tend to be more labor-intensive and require much physical work as compared to white collars, that are usually office jobs requiring analytical or administrative skills. White collar jobs sometimes have greater educational requirements and payment.
  There are also other “collar” categorizations, besides blue and white collars:
• Grey Collar: A term, referring to employees, who incorporate both blue and white-collar roles, since it usually involves technical or skilled positions that require specialized knowledge but often still include manual labor. For example, police officer, teachers and pilots are some grey collar jobs that not only need special skills but manual labor.
• Yellow Collar: This usually corresponds to workers in the sector of technology or creative industries requiring a combination of technical skills and artistic abilities. Usually, yellow collar jobs are in the creative industry like photographers, writers, directors and actors.
• Purple Collar: This is the term that is used to describe workers undertaking jobs that demonstrate a mix of both blue- and white-collar employment. It generally takes place when technical skills are required in a healthcare or service industry job.

How Are Some Examples of Blue-Collar Jobs?

Here are some examples of blue-collar job

• Factory Workers
• Construction Laborers
• Electricians
• Plumbers
• Welders
• Carpenters
• Mechanics
• Assembly Line Workers
• HVAC Technicians
• Truck Drivers

FAQs

Who are grey collar workers?

Grey collar workers as mentioned above hold skills attributed to both blue- and white-collar workers. These are mostly technical careers that require specific training but are relatively labor-intensive. Examples include IT technicians and skilled tradespeople.

What is a yellow collar job?

Yellow collar jobs are the jobs that require technical expertise and creative skills. This includes, amongst others, software developers, graphic designers, and digital marketers, to mention a few.

What are purple collar jobs?

As a mix of blue and white-collar work, the purple-collar jobs are mostly found to be available in the health service sector or other types of services. The nature of jobs that are considered to fall under the purple-collar work domain are of the nursing or medical technicians that require technical proficiency as well as interpersonal skills.

What are pink collar jobs?

A pink collar worker is working in the historically women dominated industry like beauty, social work, child care and more. This type of jobs require more interpersonal skills, empathy and caring.