# Blue vs White collar work



## Omgblood (Jun 30, 2010)

Which do you think.. is better? Which is worse? Pros and cons to both? 

In my blue collar environment there is resentment toward white collar workers. I've listened to their point of view, however their (this) arguments don't reflect the reality as of now. They complain how these college educated people are starting at the company in better positions such as being leads, supervisors and/or managers. They say these new people coming in don't have background knowledge of how the place runs like the workers who've been there for months to years. Anyways these 'new' people have had time and have learned stuff that the long-time employees know.


----------



## Zeeshan (Sep 4, 2011)

I've done both. General labour and I'm a CPA now. White collar is much easier physically but harder mentally.


----------



## SunFlower2011 (Nov 30, 2011)

Blue, white purple, who cares. Find what you enjoy and nothing else matters. 

White collar is good, but a majority of the time, those are confined in boxes and cubicles all day.

Blue collar is physically demanding but enjoy the freedom of not being boxed up all day.


----------



## OutsideR1 (Mar 13, 2014)

obv white collar pays better


----------



## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

Blue collar pays better is some cases 

I've done both and prefer blue . With penalty rates and vehicle , phone , computer , flex able hours I earn a lot more than sitting in a cubical / office all day trying to stay awake , what a snooze .. 

I do contract work now so I'm the white and blue collar worker and it suits me perfectly . 

I do think if white collar asked the opinions of the blues a little more before trying to change things every one would be happy and I do think white collar think they know everything from reading some book or doing some course which definitely isn't the case as the best knowledge comes from experience . All uni courses should have at least 6 months practical in the field .


----------



## catfreak1991 (May 24, 2014)

White-collar nerds UNITE! 

I hate lifting and bending... leave that for the high school drop-outs and GED holders. :yes


----------



## Grog (Sep 13, 2013)

No lifting sorry OHS 
No bending again OHS 
Safety first 

Find a safer alternative office Johnny . 
I'll sit here and blow your budged while I wait .


----------



## JamesM2 (Aug 29, 2012)

I like more physical jobs because time goes by faster. I have a desk job at the moment and had to switch to part time because I could no longer bear to sit at a desk from 8:30am to 5pm every day - the days just dragged which just served to further feed my depression.


----------



## DeeperUnderstanding (May 19, 2007)

I'm working on trying to get through college and get a white collar job, but so far I've only done blue collar work. It isn't fun, but it pays the bills. 

Jobs aren't fun, anyway, unless you're like Billy Joel.


----------



## thinkstoomuch101 (Jun 7, 2012)

in hospitals, it's been proven time and again that the blue collar workers - nurses, have far more experience than white collar workers.. and make better managers/directors. Why? coming up the ranks, and understanding the culture of patient care.

our wonderful white collar workers can't stand the smell of patient feces, urine, blood, yet they are so proud to walk around with their Bachelors or Phd's saying: "I'm in charge of patient management".. yet, you can't get them to stand next to a patient's bed for one minute before they runn out of the room.

We had several "degreed" directors come in and try to run an imaging dept., they were scared crapless when their induction was to put on some scrubs and transport patients for a day.. None of them lasted an hour.

they were so quick to jump on a tech when there was a patient complaint. I personally, had them come into the dept, and see the person that was making the complaint. Once THEY had to interact with them, they stopped hauling folks into their office..

it depends on the job, frankly.


----------



## Persephone The Dread (Aug 28, 2010)

The only thing that matters as far as I'm concerned is that you have enough to live off, and it's enjoyable.

Self employed is best I think, if you can make it work.


----------



## Omgblood (Jun 30, 2010)

The reason why I ask is because I'm working in a factory right now and absolutely hate it. I'm inclined to stay away from blue-collar kind of work right now, and going to school for accounting thinking white collar work might be better however I'm sure that comes with its own set of problems as well..


----------



## gunner21 (Aug 4, 2012)

catfreak1991 said:


> White-collar nerds UNITE!
> 
> I hate lifting and bending... leave that for the high school drop-outs and GED holders. :yes


University graduate (not an arts degree) and still blue collar. Did I fail at life?


----------



## twitchy666 (Apr 21, 2013)

*My last perm job in 2011*

the boss who fired me in the same year, as usual. Nothing ever lasts longer than a year

had a factory for prosthetics. He said 'never go in there' about a lunch room with tables, kitchenette, microwave. So he seemed biased toward white collar. Never speak to men in boiler suits. They were a lot more friendly than my boss. What I like about people is ones who listen instead of headshake & walking in the other direction. Toleration. Patience. My outlook was built on experience to avoid annoying people and have had a label for (shouters) but going somewhere for lunch provides proper upfront experience. Good to have time away from a boss. Previous bosses were better than him. His staff in IT were more annoying and were similar to most jobs. They are 1st line support - their keyboard and mostly their telephones

That year was my prime reason to find a social anxiety forum
feeling crippled by infinite redundancy


----------



## mssocialanxiety (Jul 20, 2014)

aren't white collar jobs more accepting of introverts/SA than blue collar?? most blue collar jobs have a lot of cliques


----------



## monotonous (Feb 1, 2013)

i prefer blue collar, sad i went to college and everything to avoid being a blue collar, now suffering in an office everyday, i finally realize my ideal life is go to work, do my work by myself, get my pay cheque, go home and feel sorry for myself, thats the life i want


----------



## Cuban FL Cracker (Jul 22, 2014)

It does seem like white collar workers have an air of "snobbiness" to them. They like to boast about how "educated", "cultured" and "sophisticated" they are while at the same time are stressed out workaholics. Blue collar workers on the other hand seem more down to earth, laid back and seem to enjoy the finer things in life.


----------



## AnotherGuy (Aug 5, 2013)

catfreak1991 said:


> White-collar nerds UNITE!
> 
> I hate lifting and bending... leave that for the high school drop-outs and GED holders. :yes


That's a little too general. I'm a college graduate who is a victim a crappy market. My degree is collecting dust while I've had to resort to blue collar work to keep afloat. Not everyone who is lifting and bending is a high school drop out or GED holder.


----------



## AnotherGuy (Aug 5, 2013)

So I'd like to weigh in! I have done my fair share of both blue and white collar work.

As someone mentioned earlier, one drains you physically, and the other mentally. But honestly, this isn't so cut and dry where you can say which one is 100% the "better". It really depends on what kind of person you are. For example, when I was a younger guy in my early 20s, I did LOTS of blue collar work and made LOTS of money. I was an operator at a dairy plant. Meanwhile, my cousin's wife, who held a master's degree, was the director of a hospital system when she was still alive. I made considerably more money than she did somehow.

I guess there are some factors involved; how good you are, if the company is willing to pay you, what kind of time you're willing to put into it. But I can say that they both have their pros and cons.

*Blue Collar*
PROS
*Considerably easier to demonstrate you've learned new things through physical action.
*Longer you work, the more you earn. (meaning more years means more money)
*Various availability (Some people LIKE or NEED to work over nights. Luckily most places can accommodate that.)
*Higher likelihood of working with other employees on a similar level of skill as yourself.
*Little to no bureaucracy to contend with. A physical job is about "doing"-rolling up the sleeves and putting your money where your mouth is, whereas a white collar job you may talk about things for 3 months to do a 2 week project. 
*Higher likelihood of working with thick skinned people. Sometimes, the pressures of a job can cause you to need to vent. When you're working in that kind of environment, it's A LOT easier to vent to the management about prevalent issues. Seriously, when I worked at a plant, I had the kind of relationship with a supervisor where we could have shouting matches and I could tell him to "get the f*** out of my operational room" and he wouldn't take it personal. I know it sounds petty, but the point I'm making is that everyone had this closer bond that when you argued, it was like arguing with family. And not having that stress of thinking "will I get fired for speaking up?" is invaluable to your mental health.
*Normally weekly pay.

CONS
*Can wear your body out quickly (I've fallen off ladders, gotten burned, lost my vision days at a time, worked in sub zero temperatures)
*While the advancement is there, it feels more lateral than vertical. Chances are that you will end up in a decent position, but after a while the room for advancement peters out unless you have some degree in production management or something. 
*Your guidelines are often defined by people who have never "been in the fray" or have done what you have to do. Meaning that you are given parameters by which you have to operate by people who have no clue what you do (which in retrospect, this technically is a con for white collar work as well).
*When it comes to days off, oddly enough, most blue collar jobs don't provide much time off. For example, at my job at that plant, we had 3 personal days to use for the ENTIRE YEAR. Aside from that, you had 1 week (meaning 5 days) of vacation time. You didn't really get significant vacation time until after a decade of service. Then you got 2 weeks (10 days). 
*Regular days off feel like "recuperation periods" where you feel like you're recuperating from the beating you took all week. It can become difficult to balance work and everyday life. Besides, it's rare that you find a physical job that gives you more than 1 day off a week. I worked 12 hour shifts for 6 days a week for 4 years. When I left that job, it took my eyes about two and a half years to readjust to normal sunlight (it was an overnight job and I slept all day). I felt like a vampire out of my rhythm.

*WHITE COLLAR*
PROS
*Virtually no physical effort. From time to time it's good to stand up and stretch and walk around though. Sitting still in a chair can actually hurt your back.
*In white collar work, while most advancement positions require some kind of training or certification (or even a degree), most white collar employers are willing to train the right person, certify you, or assist you in your studies to get you a degree. 
*Less likelihood of micromanagement.
*Most white collar jobs are very generous with time off. In my last office job, off the bat a new hire would get 2 weeks (meaning 14 days) of vacation days, and one week (7 days) of "personal/sick" days. 
*Actual days off are commonly 2 days in a row, typically weekends.

CONS
*Difficult to demonstrate you've learned anything and to demonstrate value. Since everything is done bureaucratically, people are typically advanced based on time served with a company, instead of actual achievements. Because of this, any accomplishments you make can EASILY be credited to the "leadership" of someone who's been there longer. So there is this "You hit a homerun- your manager is great for this!" culture that is fostered.
*In terms of raises, or advancements, most white collar jobs use a rubric or some kind of monitoring or grading system where someone can EASILY say "Oh, well you didn't get x amount of points so we can't give you a raise this year." I've seen 15 year veterans get passed up for raises because their "scores didn't add up" for reasons far beyond their control. Seemingly, people who are closer to management may always seems to score the best consistently.
*If you're a person who needs unconventional hours of work (like if you have kids or someone to take care of), this may not be your cup of tea. Typical work is from 8am to 5pm. Many jobs let out at 9pm at the latest. (Depends on where you go to work really.)
*In white collar work, any little certification or training can put you miles ahead, or behind, other employees on your same skill level. For example, I had an interview at a company that administers benefits for employers. As a bilingual rep, I would be likely to make 13 or 14 dollars an hour. But there is a benefit representative license (sort of a class you take) that would automatically bump you up to 20 to 25 dollars an hour (whether you speak 2 languages or not). Sometimes, a person can be far less qualified and less experienced than you, but a certain certification can make that person far more desirable as a hire. (This can also work in your favor sometimes, assuming that YOU are the one with the piece of paper haha!)
*Sometimes it is impossible to do your job effectively through the sheer amount of "red tape" and regulations that are against you. In these jobs, the paper and the pen (or keyboard) are the machete, and the rules and regulations that prevent you from appearing effective are a deciduous forest.
*There is much political correctness to contend with. You can get a visit to the human resources people for simply telling someone that they look nice, or for talking to someone. All they have to do is say "I don't feel comfortable" and you could be disciplined or fired. There were seriously times where I debated whether or not I should even greet certain people, because ANYTHING can be misconstrued as some kind of sexual advancement. Also, I've seen people use that politically correct mentality to their advantage. As an example, I've seen many people say "I'm being fired because I am a minority or because of racism". So companies keep them to avoid nice messy and public court proceedings. I say this as a minority who doesn't agree with using skin color as a crutch. Either do what you agreed to do for pay, or get out of the way.
*Often bi-weekly pay. Depending on how your bills are spread out through the month, waiting for the next paycheck can make paying bills a "cutting it close" affair.


----------



## SupaDupaFly (Sep 1, 2011)

No matter what collar it is. It can be yellow,green,potato. It doesn't matter. I rather work at something I enjoy doing than living my whole life working at a job that i hate. 

Here's a quote 

"I slept and dreamt that life was joy, I awoke and saw that life was duty, I acted, and behold duty was joy."


----------



## aGenericUsername (Apr 7, 2013)

Does anyone know if a skinny/weak person who cannot gain weight who looks like a starving Ugandan kid unless he eats 5 times the amount the average American does can survive in a blue collar environment? I was thinking of studying welding, HVAC, or something

The reason is that I don't want to deal with the social environment of a University, plus the fact that everyone and their mother is going to college nowadays (especially for Computer science).


----------



## Ntln (Apr 27, 2012)

At the end of the day, both are just about doing your part for society and trying to make some money. Just try to get a job that you're satisfied with and forget what others think, because there's always gonna be some a****** who thinks what you're doing is not good enough. You're a white collar guy, you're not a "real man" to some people and some people see you as a leech, even though that's far from true, blue collar, some people view you as uneducated and simple. So, there's really no better or worse option. Just choose what works for you.


----------



## bottleofblues (Aug 6, 2008)

Done enough blue collar work to have had enough of it, you work like a dog for crap pay. White collar work is more cushie with better pay.


----------



## Omgblood (Jun 30, 2010)

AnotherGuy said:


> So I'd like to weigh in! I have done my fair share of both blue and white collar work.
> 
> As someone mentioned earlier, one drains you physically, and the other mentally. But honestly, this isn't so cut and dry where you can say which one is 100% the "better". It really depends on what kind of person you are. For example, when I was a younger guy in my early 20s, I did LOTS of blue collar work and made LOTS of money. I was an operator at a dairy plant. Meanwhile, my cousin's wife, who held a master's degree, was the director of a hospital system when she was still alive. I made considerably more money than she did somehow.
> 
> ...


Very insightful and I can relate to a lot of the blue collar pros/cons. Very action orientated and people do and have get into yelling matches.. somewhat often. But, when next week rolls around the tension dies down and there's peace again. For blue collar work, it seems like having the ability to problem-solve using tools/equipment is very useful, something I admit I don't have much experience with. Being mechanically inclined is useful as well.

There are lots of people at workplace who have criminal records and past drug addiction episodes. For example two people were arrested recently.

-----------

As for the 'whatever' color collar work.. That's what I am trying to find out.. which one I might like better. I've been working at a factory for almost a year and am in school studying Accounting. I'm not very fond of working here, so I wonder will working in a white-collar setting be better for me?

Now, the grass won't be automatically greener. So I'm here to ask


----------

