
A white-collar worker is a person who performs
professional service, desk,
managerial, or administrative work. White-collar work may be performed in an
office
An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform Business administration, administrative Work (human activity), work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a po ...
or similar setting. White-collar workers include job paths related to
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
,
consulting,
academia
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
,
accountancy
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...
,
business
Business is the practice of making one's living or making money by producing or Trade, buying and selling Product (business), products (such as goods and Service (economics), services). It is also "any activity or enterprise entered into for ...
and
executive management,
customer support,
design
A design is the concept or proposal for an object, process, or system. The word ''design'' refers to something that is or has been intentionally created by a thinking agent, and is sometimes used to refer to the inherent nature of something ...
,
economics
Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
,
science
Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
,
technology
Technology is the application of Conceptual model, conceptual knowledge to achieve practical goals, especially in a reproducible way. The word ''technology'' can also mean the products resulting from such efforts, including both tangible too ...
,
engineering
Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
,
market research,
finance
Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...
,
human resources
Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...
,
operations research
Operations research () (U.S. Air Force Specialty Code: Operations Analysis), often shortened to the initialism OR, is a branch of applied mathematics that deals with the development and application of analytical methods to improve management and ...
,
marketing
Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce.
Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...
,
public relations,
real estate,
information technology
Information technology (IT) is a set of related fields within information and communications technology (ICT), that encompass computer systems, software, programming languages, data processing, data and information processing, and storage. Inf ...
,
networking,
law,
healthcare,
architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
, and
research and development
Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in some countries as OKB, experiment and design, is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products. R&D constitutes the first stage ...
.
In contrast,
blue-collar workers perform
manual labor or work in
skilled trades;
pink-collar workers work in care, health care, social work, or teaching;
green-collar workers specifically work in the environmental sector; and
grey-collar jobs combine manual labor and skilled trades with non-manual or
managerial duties.
With the emergence of the
AI boom, there have been studies released arguing white-collar workers are, as of 2024, more susceptible to
technological unemployment
The term technological unemployment is used to describe the loss of jobs caused by technological change. It is a key type of structural unemployment. Technological change typically includes the introduction of labour-saving "mechanical-muscle" ...
caused by
AI relative to blue-collar workers; and also, more and more white-collar and blue-collar jobs will be replaced by AI.
Etymology
The term refers to the white
dress shirts or
detachable collars of male office workers common through most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Western countries, as opposed to the blue overalls worn by many manual laborers.
The term "white collar" is credited to
Upton Sinclair, an American writer, in relation to contemporary
clerical, administrative, and management workers during the 1930s, though references to white-collar work appear as early as 1935. White collar employees are considered highly educated and talented as compared to blue collar.
Health effects
Less physical activity among white-collar workers has been thought to be a key factor in increased life-style related health conditions such as
fatigue
Fatigue is a state of tiredness (which is not sleepiness), exhaustion or loss of energy. It is a signs and symptoms, symptom of any of various diseases; it is not a disease in itself.
Fatigue (in the medical sense) is sometimes associated wit ...
,
obesity
Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...
,
diabetes,
hypertension
Hypertension, also known as high blood pressure, is a Chronic condition, long-term Disease, medical condition in which the blood pressure in the artery, arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms i ...
,
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...
, and
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...
. Also, working at a computer could potentially lead to diseases associated with monotonous data entry such as
carpal tunnel syndrome. Workplace interventions such as alternative activity workstations,
sit-stand desks, and promotion of stair use are among measures being implemented to counter the harms of
sedentary workplace environments. The quality of evidence used to determine the effectiveness and potential health benefits of many of these interventions is weak. More research is needed to determine which interventions may be effective in the long-term.
Low quality evidence indicates that sit-stand desks may reduce sitting in the workplace during the first year of their use; however, it is not clear if sit-stand desks may be effective at reducing sitting in the longer-term.
An intervention to encourage office workers to stand and move reduced their sitting time by 22 minutes after 1 year; the effect was 3-times greater when the intervention included a sit-to-stand desk. The intervention also led to small improvements in stress, wellbeing and vigour.
Demographics
Formerly a minority in the
agrarian and early
industrial societies, white-collar workers have become a majority in
industrialized countries due to
modernization and
outsourcing of manufacturing jobs.
The
blue-collar and white-collar phrases may no longer be literally accurate, as office attire has broadened beyond a white shirt. Employees in many offices may dress in colourful casual or
business casual clothes. In addition, the work tasks have blurred. "White-collar" employees may perform "blue-collar" tasks (or vice versa). An example would be a
restaurant manager who may wear more
formal clothing yet still assist with cooking food or taking customers' orders, or a construction worker who also performs desk work.
See also
*
Designation of workers by collar color
*
Knowledge worker
*
Salaryman
*
White-collar crime
The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. The crimes are believed to be committed by middle- or upper-class indivi ...
Notes
Further reading
*
Mills, Charles Wright. ''White Collar: the American Middle Classes'', in series, ''Galaxy Book
'. New York:
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 1956. ''N.B''.: "First published
n1951."
External links
*
{{Authority control
1930s neologisms
Employment classifications
Office work
Social classes