Introduction
White-collar workers refer to employees who do skilled and highly skilled jobs. They are part of the office administration and management. They do not perform manual labour and soil their hands. Traditionally, white-collar workers are those working in a formal set up, wearing formal attire.
Understanding White Collar
White-collar employees include highly qualified professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, chartered accountants, engineers, financial jobs, and so on. They are paid high salaries compared to blue-collar workers. Their jobs are highly skilled, based on their higher education and training. Blue-collar workers are those who work in a factory, plant, or mill and are paid for manual labour.
The white-collar and blue-collar workers are divided into two different working class. White-collar workers also include people who have skilled jobs at the operational level in professional firms. These people are involved in the activities, such as administration and ground research. These workers progress to higher levels of white-collar employment.
The distinction is seen widely between the manufacturing industry and the service industry. The agricultural sector, along with manufacturing, mining, and related industries widely comprises of blue-collar workers at their factories, farms, and mines. The service industry comprises of professional firms, financial companies, and insurance companies where the employees are white-collar workers doing skilled jobs.
White-collar workers are traditionally not part of trade union activities. They generally do not form trade unions, unlike blue-collar workers who form and associate themselves with trade unions. The white-collar workers are represented by their associations, such as the Indian Medical Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institution of Engineers, NASSCOM and so on.
Conclusion
White-collar workers have more opportunities to grow up in the management ladder towards higher roles, such as CEO (Chief Executive Officer), CFO (Chief Financial Officer), independent directors of the board of companies and so on. There is an incremental expectation from white-collar workers to know the law, regulations, the latest scientific developments, and competitor’s business models.
