Poll: White collar vs Blue collar

[One]

Just curious

[Monocle Money Mouth]

I’m white collar now, but I spent my first 8 years out of school doing retail and warehousing, usually as a team leader. I miss the physical aspects of those jobs. I never had to exercise since I was on my feet for 8-12 hours a day. I don’t miss the crazy high turnover rates or the constant metaphorical fires that needed to be extinguished from always being understaffed. I had guys call off because they landed in jail. I had a lot of no call, no shows too. The pay wasn’t great either considering how much stress I was under to get things done on time regardless of staffing issues.

I learned I don’t have the temperament for leadership and management type roles in those industries. Fortunately, I’m a geek and taught myself to code in my spare time. I was able to use those skills to get my foot in the door at a software company and earn much more money with lower stress. There are stressful moments at times, but nothing as stressful as needing to unload a 53’ trailer that requires 25 people to process, only having 11 people, and having managers say you still need to get it processed on time.

If nothing else, my time in blue collar jobs was a character building experience. I have hourly coworkers that have only ever had office jobs that complain about any extra overtime requests. I’m grateful to have gotten a good paying job where overtime means an extra 5-10 hours a week for a couple of months a years instead of 20 hours a week for 8 month stretches. I’m still hourly too and see overtime as an easy way to boost my earnings while my coworkers see it as interfering with their Netflix binges.

[sol]

I was decidedly white collar while working, but as a retired man I've found it interesting how enthusiastically I have embraced blue-collar work (for no money) when given the choice of how to spend my time.

One down side of retirement, for me, is that the sudden shift to regular manual labor rather than regular desk sitting has taken it's toll on my body.  At the age of 41 my body was not prepared to swing a hammer all day, and my joint injuries aren't healing like they used to because I'm not resting them.  Six months ago the idea of not using a particular joint for a week would have been pretty easy to envision.  Now that I have so many projects to attend to, I feel like I can't just lay around while they get better so I tend to aggravate them over and over again.  I suddenly have a finer appreciation for why so many people in the trades are forced into retirement in their early 50s.

[PhilB]

I was decidedly white collar while working, but as a retired man I've found it interesting how enthusiastically I have embraced blue-collar work (for no money) when given the choice of how to spend my time.

One down side of retirement, for me, is that the sudden shift to regular manual labor rather than regular desk sitting has taken it's toll on my body.  At the age of 41 my body was not prepared to swing a hammer all day, and my joint injuries aren't healing like they used to because I'm not resting them.  Six months ago the idea of not using a particular joint for a week would have been pretty easy to envision.  Now that I have so many projects to attend to, I feel like I can't just lay around while they get better so I tend to aggravate them over and over again.  I suddenly have a finer appreciation for why so many people in the trades are forced into retirement in their early 50s.

This worries me hugely.  I had some similar joint issues a deacde ago when rebuilding my house.  Now I'm FIREing at 52 and I'm really going to have to be so careful managing the transition to physical work instead of sitting in front of a laptop all day.
One favourite memory from the house build - I was down at the DIY store so often that the staff got to recognise me.  One day the lady on the checkout asked me 'Are you a plumber?'  Very strange expression on her face when I said 'No, I'm a chartered accountant.'

[One]

I hear you on the joint pain, I'm early 40s and starting to feel the pain. My job is 50% blue collar, I enjoy working with my hands and creating things from design. I'm looking forward to FIRE soon and finding some new hobbies. Thanks for sharing, good to see some blue collar represented here too.

[Zikoris]

Is a receptionist white collar?

[Johnez]

Blue collar, here. Manufacturing and warehousing. A bit over a decade in and I finally get why my dad wanted me to go to school and use my brain. He was a landscaper for over 30 years, always wanted me to go to school. Well I tried! Going to school these days to get into another blue collar career that can transition into lighter work with qualifications and time.

[EnjoyIt]

I was decidedly white collar while working, but as a retired man I've found it interesting how enthusiastically I have embraced blue-collar work (for no money) when given the choice of how to spend my time.

One down side of retirement, for me, is that the sudden shift to regular manual labor rather than regular desk sitting has taken it's toll on my body.  At the age of 41 my body was not prepared to swing a hammer all day, and my joint injuries aren't healing like they used to because I'm not resting them.  Six months ago the idea of not using a particular joint for a week would have been pretty easy to envision.  Now that I have so many projects to attend to, I feel like I can't just lay around while they get better so I tend to aggravate them over and over again.  I suddenly have a finer appreciation for why so many people in the trades are forced into retirement in their early 50s.

This is a legitimate issue as we age.  One way to help minimize injury and strengthen joints is through Yoga.  Even 20-30 minutes a day can do wonders for your body.

I would strongly suggest letting those joints heal because before you know it, the rest will be forced upon you by your body and it will be much longer than just 1 week.

[Johnez]

Is a receptionist white collar?

I would say white.

[Fishindude]

I started in a blue collar field labor position and eventually worked my way to the top white collar job in our company, then started thinking about FIRE and couldn't wait to get the hell out of the white collar world and back to hands on blue collar manual labor, which is what I do now in retirement.    The tired body at the end of the day beats heck out of all of the mental BS and stress one has to deal with in the white collar world.

[sparkytheop]

Is a receptionist white collar?

I would say white.

I had to look up "pink collar" because I had no clue what that was.  I'd think receptionist would fit under that.

[sparkytheop]

I'm blue collar.  Formerly a maintenance electrician, now in a similar, but different and less physical job, still blue collar.  I was forced to work in a cube for a year, at a desk, and every day was miserable.  I am not cut out for office work.
I can see myself being able to do this job to my minimum retirement age (57) pretty easily, but hopefully won't have to.
My preferred way of living would be stay at home wife who takes care of all the household stuff so that weekends are just for fun (or two-man jobs I can't do myself), but, since I'm single and gotta eat, I'd say I have the best job ever.

[Fomerly known as something]

I picked other because some aspects of my job are consider blue collar and some are considered white collar.

[One]

I picked other because some aspects of my job are consider blue collar and some are considered white collar.

I guess that's called grey collar, apparently there's also red collar for government workers and a few other industry specific collars.

[OtherJen]

White collar (science/medical editor) but as I work at home, “pajama collar” is more accurate some mornings.

[tralfamadorian]

Also mixed blue collar/white collar here.

[kaadalac]

No collar, I wear t-shirts to work.

[MrOnyx]

I suppose white collar, technically. Creative Design, broadly speaking. Luckily, this line of work rarely feels particularly 'white collar' in nature.

[I'm a red panda]

I'm in a meeting with 15 coworkers. No one has a collar on...

I have an office job that is entirely educational based. It's white collar.

[Sailor Sam]

In the literal sense, the collar to my uniform blouse is blue, but I'm military middle management. Pretty sure that's white collar? I though do stand 8 hours of bridge watch, so perhaps grey would fit better. Dunno.

[2Birds1Stone]

Today I have a black collar, but only because it matched my suit.

[Mississippi Mudstache]

White collar. I'm a forester by training, but I can't remember the last time I stepped in the woods for work. I've been a forest industry analyst for the past 4 years, and it suits me better. I prefer being in the woods to being in the office, but only if I'm in control of my own agenda.

[mm1970]

I was decidedly white collar while working, but as a retired man I've found it interesting how enthusiastically I have embraced blue-collar work (for no money) when given the choice of how to spend my time.

One down side of retirement, for me, is that the sudden shift to regular manual labor rather than regular desk sitting has taken it's toll on my body.  At the age of 41 my body was not prepared to swing a hammer all day, and my joint injuries aren't healing like they used to because I'm not resting them.  Six months ago the idea of not using a particular joint for a week would have been pretty easy to envision.  Now that I have so many projects to attend to, I feel like I can't just lay around while they get better so I tend to aggravate them over and over again.  I suddenly have a finer appreciation for why so many people in the trades are forced into retirement in their early 50s.

Yes, good point.  I think a lot about this when politicians tell people to work until they are 70.

I am strictly white collar, but most of my relatives are blue collar.  They are pretty wrecked by 50.  Shoulders, knees, backs...

[joonifloofeefloo]

White collar (science/medical editor) but as I work at home, “pajama collar” is more accurate some mornings.

:))))))    Can this please be added to the poll? That’s the one I would click. (My fields are very, very mixed but doing almost all of it on my terms -and most of it at home- makes pajama collar the right fit.)

[One]

White collar (science/medical editor) but as I work at home, “pajama collar” is more accurate some mornings.

:))))))    Can this please be added to the poll? That’s the one I would click. (My fields are very, very mixed but doing almost all of it on my terms -and most of it at home- makes pajama collar the right fit.)

Sure, added a couple other collars too

[big_slacker]

Started blue collar, moved to service industry, now white collar. Technically no collar, t-shirt and jeans eary day!

Blue collar can transition from swinging a hammer to business owner, site supervisor, construction manager, etc. Have several friends who have done this.

I do sympathize with being beat up and recovering as you age. I'm a lifelong athlete and even though I stopped combat sports in my 20's these days sometimes I wake up from a mountain bike ride feeling worse than a fight or tournament when I was young. But I can take a break and recover, if you have to physically work to make money you don't have that luxury.

[Penn42]

I was decidedly white collar while working, but as a retired man I've found it interesting how enthusiastically I have embraced blue-collar work (for no money) when given the choice of how to spend my time.

One down side of retirement, for me, is that the sudden shift to regular manual labor rather than regular desk sitting has taken it's toll on my body.  At the age of 41 my body was not prepared to swing a hammer all day, and my joint injuries aren't healing like they used to because I'm not resting them.  Six months ago the idea of not using a particular joint for a week would have been pretty easy to envision.  Now that I have so many projects to attend to, I feel like I can't just lay around while they get better so I tend to aggravate them over and over again.  I suddenly have a finer appreciation for why so many people in the trades are forced into retirement in their early 50s.

I read a comment on here a couple months ago stating that construction jobs are no longer hard on your body because of new technology.  There was no "as" qualifier in there anywhere.  The comment was a couple days old in a thread that had veered in another direction so I left it alone, but that person obviously hasn't worked in manual labor all day every day. 

Hell, I'm only 27 and I ache pretty bad.  Especially towards the end of the week as the effects of the labor starts compounding on my body.  If I take a week off I recover, but the repetitive and/or impactful motions performed in awkward positions for hours a day really takes it's toll.  And those motions are rarely avoidable!

[moof]

The best way to tell if you are white collar or blue collar is if you think is more important to wash you hand before, or after you go to the bathroom.