Bro there were people back in the day who would just push a heavy millstone around in a circle, a job that was often also done by literal donkeys. It’s hard to imagine in a modern economy, where truly unskilled labor is rare, but it exists. We often forget how much is done by machines that was done by laborers in the past or still is in poorer countries.
I agree with your passion, but I think you’re digging too deep into the semantics. Sure, after time, we can expect someone to become more skilled at an “unskilled” position, but that’s bending the definition of the term.
This man needs an appendectomy.
This canyon needs a 200m bridge that will be able to hold 4 lanes of traffic.
This floor needs mopped.
98% of people would have no idea where to even start on the first two jobs. THAT is the difference between skilled and unskilled.
But does it require skill to do the job or does skill just make a person better at the job?
A plumber can’t be a plumber without years of training and experience. There is no apprentice dishwasher or master dishwasher, just about anyone with two hands and willing to stand in one place for hours can do the job. I washed dishes at a fast food deli for three months for a summer job in highschool. It’s thankless hard work but it was mindless work and required no skill, I washed dishes zoned out and on autopilot most of the time. I’m sure there are skilled dishwashers that can was them the fastest or cleanest, but washing dishes doesn’t require skill, it requires work ethic, it requires completing the task of washing the dishes. There’s no 100 other tasks required to do or learn before becoming a dishwasher.
If any functioning human can walk in and do the job then it’s not “skilled” labor. Having a good work ethic doesn’t equal skilled labor.
“Skilled” labor is someone that spent years honing their craft and making a complicated “job” look like a simple effortless task because they spent years learning how to do it and perfecting it, hours of prep and planning. That’s is “skilled” labor.
“unskilled” directly refers to the amount of training a job requires to do it. Anyone can wash dishes or do a newspaper round without any training. It’s not a skill to wash a plate properly.
Anyone can do an unskilled job and be efficient at it in a short space of time.
It’s not about whether or not you require knowledge or abilities to perform the jobs, but whether or not you are expected to already have certain qualifications to even get the job. So unskilled labour just means that it’s an entry point - you can learn it on the go.
I do not disagree that these terms are less important in today’s world where everything is overly automated and the entry-level has risen. But these terms did have their purpose. And not the wording “unskilled” has changed our society’s discriminating look on these jobs, but it’s the other way around.
That implies there is unskilled labour. What jobs require no skills to perform? Except manglement.
Bro there were people back in the day who would just push a heavy millstone around in a circle, a job that was often also done by literal donkeys. It’s hard to imagine in a modern economy, where truly unskilled labor is rare, but it exists. We often forget how much is done by machines that was done by laborers in the past or still is in poorer countries.
Digging up a septic system requires no skill.
Moving pabel forms for concrete requires no skill - the GC or foreman will direct how it’s done.
Lots and lots of stuff requires no particular skill.
I’ve had a few jobs when I was young that required no skill.
And they were?
Newspaper round, washing dishes in a pub and putting seeds in soil in containers at a plant nursery.
I call bull.
It takes skill to do anything. Mopping a floor, washing a window, making a bed, or bagging groceries.
Mopping a floor takes zero skill.
Newspaper round, washing dishes in a pub kitchen and working in a plant nursery putting seeds into soil in their trays.
None of them required any training, anyone could have done those jobs.
Training=/= skill
I washed dishes. You can do a bad job or a good job.
Same with all the others.
I agree with your passion, but I think you’re digging too deep into the semantics. Sure, after time, we can expect someone to become more skilled at an “unskilled” position, but that’s bending the definition of the term.
This man needs an appendectomy.
This canyon needs a 200m bridge that will be able to hold 4 lanes of traffic.
This floor needs mopped.
98% of people would have no idea where to even start on the first two jobs. THAT is the difference between skilled and unskilled.
That’s EXACTLY what it means - anyone can do it.
But does it require skill to do the job or does skill just make a person better at the job?
A plumber can’t be a plumber without years of training and experience. There is no apprentice dishwasher or master dishwasher, just about anyone with two hands and willing to stand in one place for hours can do the job. I washed dishes at a fast food deli for three months for a summer job in highschool. It’s thankless hard work but it was mindless work and required no skill, I washed dishes zoned out and on autopilot most of the time. I’m sure there are skilled dishwashers that can was them the fastest or cleanest, but washing dishes doesn’t require skill, it requires work ethic, it requires completing the task of washing the dishes. There’s no 100 other tasks required to do or learn before becoming a dishwasher.
If any functioning human can walk in and do the job then it’s not “skilled” labor. Having a good work ethic doesn’t equal skilled labor.
“Skilled” labor is someone that spent years honing their craft and making a complicated “job” look like a simple effortless task because they spent years learning how to do it and perfecting it, hours of prep and planning. That’s is “skilled” labor.
“unskilled” directly refers to the amount of training a job requires to do it. Anyone can wash dishes or do a newspaper round without any training. It’s not a skill to wash a plate properly.
Anyone can do an unskilled job and be efficient at it in a short space of time.
It’s not about whether or not you require knowledge or abilities to perform the jobs, but whether or not you are expected to already have certain qualifications to even get the job. So unskilled labour just means that it’s an entry point - you can learn it on the go.
I do not disagree that these terms are less important in today’s world where everything is overly automated and the entry-level has risen. But these terms did have their purpose. And not the wording “unskilled” has changed our society’s discriminating look on these jobs, but it’s the other way around.
It’s more a definition of how much training is required.
In a crisis, I know that I’m infinitely more capable and useful than someone who shuffles paper and pretends that they add value to society