The old way of classifying jobs as blue- or white-collar is no longer relevant in Canada’s modern labor market. Our 21st century economy and workforce are too complex to boil jobs and work categories down to a simple blue- or white-collar contrast.
The old way of classifying jobs as blue- or white-collar is no longer relevant in Canada’s modern labor market. Our 21st century economy and workforce are too complex to boil jobs and work categories down to a simple blue- or white-collar contrast.
The first use of white collar to describe those in non-manual labor jobs dates back to the 1910s. Blue collar, as a contrasting label for manual workers, was coined a bit later, in the 1920s.
But nowadays, our shirt colors do not signal the nature of our jobs, sectors, industries, professions—or anything to do with more subjective, yet very real, sentiments related to work prestige, hierarchy or socio-economic status.
Several industry experts have remarked that hanging onto these outdated labels distorts the true picture of the kinds of jobs that are available to young Canadians, now and in the future, and the types of skills that will be in demand and are worth investing in.
It’s time to retire the outdated contrast of blue- and white-collar jobs. Instead, we need a new taxonomy that’s more sophisticated and updated—one that can better describe the different types of jobs and workers that make up Canada’s modern labor market.
