Blue-collar worker

In contrast, the white-collar worker typically performs work in an office environment and may involve sitting at a computer or desk.

In higher level blue collar jobs, such as becoming an electrician or plumber, vocational training or apprenticeships are required and state-certification is also necessary.

Some people who find themselves in academic jobs who were raised by parents or belong to families that are predominately blue-collar may take on some of the habits, processes, and philosophies utilized by laborers and workers.

This offshoring has pushed formerly agrarian nations to industrialized economies and concurrently decreased the number of blue-collar jobs in developed countries.

However, in many of these countries, such as the United States, the supply of blue collar labor (especially skilled trades) has declined faster than demand for these services has fallen.

Driven by a gradually aging blue collar workforce and shifting preferences towards higher education, this trend was exacerbated during the COVID pandemic.

With the deindustrialization of these areas beginning in the mid-1960s and accelerating throughout the late 20th century, cities like Allentown, Bethlehem, Erie, and Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania; Cleveland, Toledo, and Youngstown in Ohio; Detroit in Michigan; Buffalo and Rochester in New York; and St. Louis in Missouri experienced a steady decline of their blue-collar workforce, subsequent population decreases, and high unemployment, poverty, and urban blight associated with Rust Belt economies.