Are the Terms “White Collar” and “Blue Collar” Problematic?

To understand if the terms “white collar” and “blue collar” can be problematic, you should first understand the post-war society these terms were born into in the mid 1940s and the bias the terms created. But with the rise of technology, the expansion of the job market and the availability of education for more people, the relevancy and meaning of the terms began to change. If you continue to use the terms, it’s critical to use them to distinguish the type of work someone does — not to indicate education, salary or social status. 

By Helen Harris 

Blue collar: Of, relating to or constituting the class of wage earners whose duties call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing; having characteristics associated with blue-collar workers, such as having, showing, or appealing to unpretentious or unsophisticated tastes.

White collar: Of, relating to or constituting the class of salaried employees whose duties do not call for the wearing of work clothes or protective clothing.

By reading the above terms, you can deduce that one term, at one point in history, was favored over the other. Why was this? Because of the type of work individuals did, the amount of money they earned, the hours they worked and the industry they were in. 

So that leads to the following questions: Should the above terms and definitions continue to be used? Are they problematic? While most individuals don’t typically mean harm when referring to these words, these terms aren’t necessarily doing any good either in defining today’s jobs and professionals. But before you form your opinion of whether you think these terms are problematic or not, it's important to understand their history and the purpose they served in a post-war society. 

Understand the History of White- and Blue-Collar Workers

The term “white collar” came first, being cited in print as early as 1910 in the Norfolk, Nebraska Weekly News-Journal. Slate reports that the mention of “white collar” in the Norfolk, Nebraska Weekly News-Journal was used in the line, “He is independent — because he had the good sense to leave a cheap, white-collar job, deny himself fleeting luxuries, take up the cross, and follow—the plow.” 

From there, the term “blue collar” and what it meant to be a blue-collar worker was everything a white-collar worker was not. 

Slate continues to report that the use of blue to mean “working class” soon followed. And etymologist Barry Popik suggests that blue-collar workers were mentioned in contrast to white-collar workers as early as 1924, when the Alden, Iowa, newspaper the Times put forward the idea. “If we may call professions and office positions white-collar jobs, we may call the trades blue-collar jobs.” 

It was in the 1930s when the term “blue collar” came into its own and it appeared in the New York Times for the first time in 1945. Both terms rose in popularity after World War II.

Blue-collar workers of the time in large part worked outside or in factories with large tools and equipment — and were proud of the work they did.

“Blue-collar workers became known as America's ‘working class,’ sometimes to the frustration of white-collar workers, who countered that they got their hands dirty in a different way as they balanced complex budgets, reconciled confounding research and catered to difficult clients,” reported M.T. Wroblewski in Chron. 

But as you now know, it has been well over a century since the first of the terms was used. And in present-day society, the terms don’t hold nearly the same weight or the same meaning they once did. 

So much has changed: The way people learn, the education system, the technology available, and the vast, flexible job market.

“I think that it boils down to the society that those terms came out of was much more stratified than our society,” said Kristen Fife, senior technical recruiter. “It was more of a social strata than it was about a salary,” said Fife. “Are you actually using your hands to do your work? Or are you more thinking and using your brain more than you're using your hands to do your work is generally how I always understood [the terms].” 

What Do The Terms White-Collar and Blue-Collar Mean Today? 

Today, a white-collar worker generally refers to a professional who works in an administrative or office job, and a blue-collar worker means someone who performs some type of skilled or manual labor. In contrast to how blue and white-collar workers were perceived in the twentieth century, in today’s society, the type of work doesn’t define a person’s education or social class.

“In today’s world, white collar and blue collar doesn’t hinge solely on a person’s education and hard skills,” said Danielle Holmes, two-time TORI-nominated resume writer, LinkedIn expert, speaker and instructional designer. “At one point in time, blue-collar workers were considered to be less educated and from a lower social class, whereas white-collar workers were more educated and made more money. Now, a person can have a blue-collar job and make more money than someone who has a white-collar job. Today, more recognition is given to the hard work blue-collar workers do, which has in turn provided them with higher pay and more opportunities.”

Fife continues on Holmes’ points, stating that many people who are in the trades actually do have business acumen, as they are sole proprietors and owners. 

“A lot of the people that are in those independent roles, they own their own businesses,” said Fife. “So even though they might not have a degree in accounting or human resources, they're still performing the same function. So I don't think it's really even necessarily relevant anymore.” 

Blurred Lines: What Once Defined White- and Blue-Collar Jobs Is No Longer Relevant 

“I think that the time and the place when the delineation between types of jobs and what is a ‘professional’ and ‘what is not a professional’ has just completely changed and the lines have completely blurred with the rise of technology, the rise of how people do things and how people get their education,” said Fife. “It's just stereotypes based on a society that does not actually exist anymore.” 

Chron continues Fife’s points, stating that the key historical differentiators between white- and blue-collar jobs (training and education, skill level and pay) are fading fast. 

“If you're not seeing these changes in your workplace, then you're probably seeing them elsewhere, such as among your competitors and vendors,” reported M.T. Wroblewski in Chron.

To add to the evidence that blue-collar and white-collar jobs are becoming more of a light-blue territory for all, consider the following top five blue-collar jobs, their respective mean annual earnings, and identified by Forbes: 

• Nuclear power reactor operators ($94,350)
• Electrical and electronics repairers ($77,770)
• Elevator installers and repairers ($77,130)
• Power plant operators ($75,970) 
• Transportation inspectors ($73,720)

Additionally, Chron cites that employers are just as eager to retain blue-collar workers as white-collar workers, providing promotional opportunities that were not always available to their predecessors. And there’s room for growth: The talent shortage in blue-collar sectors is expected to increase in the years ahead, with more than half of the 3.5 million jobs in the manufacturing sector going unfilled. 

And it’s not just pay — but rather the blending of the two “collars” and their respective careers, education and roles that has caused the hard lines in peoples’ minds to now soften. For instance, what was once seen as a strictly blue-collar role with little education and therefore little pay is a thing of the past. 

Poler Stuff provides an example of this, reporting that a job such as a construction manager now combines blue and white-collar work. The source also states that today, many blue-collar positions also demand higher education qualifications. For instance, if you want to work as a mining engineer, you need at least a bachelor’s degree in engineering. 

Fife additionally points out that there are jobs today that have traditionally been considered blue-collar, such as carpenters and electricians — but these professionals are working in a multibillion industries.

“I think that that's like the perfect example of the blurring of lines between white and blue collar and how we would traditionally think of them in the last 10 to 20 years,” said Fife. 

How Old Terms Can Lead To Modern-Day Bias

Holmes states that blue- and white-collar careers have in the past been divided because of the type of work performed by the workers that in turn created a difference in salary and education between these two groups. This led to many stereotypes created about both groups.

“For me personally, I'm always a little hesitant to use broad stereotypical terms in any way,” said Rob Kim, LinkedIn Top Voice 2022, facilitator and Gallup certified strengths coach. “But I can get why people are doing that right to kind of classify things as part of something. I haven't been using blue or white collar a lot in my career world, and I don't think students, alumni and professionals necessarily are either.” 

However, if the terms are used, Holmes stresses that they be used strictly to distinguish the type of work someone in that category — not to indicate that a person is more or less educated or makes more or less money. 

“Where I see having to be extra careful and where the terms could be loaded is using the terms to identify someone who works in the trades or the service industry versus someone who has a degree or is in a professional program,” Kim. “I think there still is a divide in people's minds about having a degree versus not, which I would challenge.”

Poler Stuff emphasizes this point, reporting that the opposition between blue collar vs. white collar began in a time when the social class divide was at its peak (the dawn of the 20th century). It was a time when office workers were seen as more educated and therefore well-paid, while manual laborers were viewed as poor and unskilled. 

“Luckily, the gap between the two collar colors has now started to fill. … Hopefully, one day the only reminder of such social divisions will be phrases like ‘blue and white-collar jobs,’” reported the source. 

Top Takeaways 

Are the Terms “White Collar” and “Blue Collar” Problematic?

• The term “white collar” came first, being cited in print as early as 1910 in the Norfolk, Nebraska Weekly News-Journal. The term “blue collar” appeared in the New York Times for the first time in 1945. Both terms rose in popularity after World War II.
• I think that it boils down to the society that those terms came out of was much more stratified than our society. … It was more of a social strata than it was about a salary.” 
• Today, a white-collar worker generally refers to a professional who works in an administrative or office job, and a blue-collar worker means someone who performs some type of skilled or manual labor.
• “I think that the time and the place when the delineation between types of jobs and what is a ‘professional’ and ‘what is not a professional’ has just completely changed and the lines have completely blurred with the rise of technology, the rise of how people do things and how people get their education.”
• To avoid bias, the terms blue and white collar should generally only be used to distinguish the type of work someone in that category — not to indicate that a person is more or less educated or makes more or less money.