Grey collar refers to the balance of employed people not classified as white or blue. They are principally White Collar Workers either working part-time or are under employed. Under employed means that the person may be qualified with a specific degree but may be holding a job that does not require such high qualification.

Especially now that we’re breaking gender stereotypes and people are finding jobs doing whatever they want. We have 15 examples of pink collar jobs and help with finding them if you want to work to help people feel better, live better lives, and be overall happy. The term was coined in 1983 to describe the limits women have in furthering their careers since the jobs are often dead-end, stressful and underpaid. The term pink ghetto is just simply another way of describing pink-collar work.

What Is the Meaning of Pink Collar Job?

Does the idea of working with people and possibly helping them feel better, live better lives, or be happier, healthier, and better-educated appeal to you? Of those workers, 865,000 of them were women, a number four times higher than the 216,000 men who also left the workforce, according to a National Women’s Law Center analysis… Where Black women and Latinas both saw double digit unemployment rates in September at 11.1% and 11%, respectively, according to NWLC data. It’s interesting that not only have the jobs that were classified as a pink collar in the past changed. The definition has also been altered, but it hasn’t been totally separated from its sexist origins.

Pink Collar workers are usually educated and are often provided skills through a training programme, classes, diplomas, or seminars. The main sectors that are dominated by women are; teaching, waiting, the beauty salon industry and spa industry. In today’s ever changing and creative world men are also jumping into pink collar jobs. Other examples of Pink Collar jobs are; librarians, maids, flight attendants, receptionists and secretaries. Blue Collar workers are generally out in the field doing hard manual labor. Manual laborers typically prefer dark clothing so that the dirt and sweat from their hard work does not easily show on their clothing.

Word History

When one sees development and lots of infrastructure coming up in a country, you will see a large demand for the Blue Collar worker. A Blue collar worker can be trained on the job and does not typically require prior skills. However, a diploma, vocational training, or some sort of skill pink collar jobs meaning certification will add an edge to a person’s career. Some Blue Collar jobs  require smart skilled individuals who are equipped with good training and knowledge and may even need related certification. There is a high demand for blue collar workers in developing nations, such as; India.

These positions were not white-collar jobs, but neither were they blue-collar manual labor. Hence, the creation of the term “pink-collar,” which indicated it was not white-collar, was nonetheless an office job and one that was overwhelmingly filled by women. The worker is cultured or skilled in the relevant field through training workshops or classes and they have to persist for development in their careers. The other major issue facing the pink-collar worker is of sexual harassment. She may or may not be able to identify it and if she even manages to identify harassment, it is difficult for her to be in a position to voice it. And she is not glamorous enough to be in black and white, according to the media.

A major reason for the existence of such a practice is the stereotypes imbibed with the gender and gender roles which led to the belief in many managers that women are not that serious about their career and their work life is temporary. Also, at a minor level the discomfort faced by men in working along with females on a professional level in a male dominant society leads to females being stalled at all stages of their careers. Lesser development opportunities and insufficient mentoring further deteriorates women’s chances of career advancement. To overcome the pink ghetto, companies have to become conscious of the gender issues.

Unions also became a major outlet for women to fight against the unfair treatment they experienced. Women who joined these types of unions stayed before and after work to talk about the benefits of the union, collect dues, obtain charters, and form bargaining committees.

The Average American Monthly Salary

It started as a small walkout, with a handful of members from one shop and grew to a force of ten of thousands, changing the course of the labor movement forever. In 1910 women allied themselves with the Progressive Party who sought to reform social issues. We have degrees and certifications, but are also out in the field and in the office. While we’re making progress in gender equality, we’re still not quite there. Another win for women came in 1921 when congress passed the Sheppard–Towner Act, a welfare measure intended to reduce infant and maternal mortality; it was the first federally funded healthcare act.

Why did some of these jobs become less available to women after the 1940s? Two-thirds of the American Geographical Society (AGS)’s employees were women, who served as librarians, editorial personnel in the publishing programs, secretaries, research editors, copy editors, proofreaders, research assistants and sales staff. These women came with credentials from well-known colleges and universities and many were overqualified for their positions, but later were promoted to more prestigious positions. Illustratively, CNBC reported on October 2, 2020, that, in just the one month period between August and September, nearly 1.1 million workers ages 20 and over dropped out of the labor force, meaning they are no longer working or even looking for work. Kristin Kizer is an award-winning writer, television and documentary producer, and content specialist who has worked on a wide variety of written, broadcast, and electronic publications.

Fragmentation In Construction Industry! What does it mean? Why So?

Women were also not always encouraged into educational programs that allowed them to explore professional level roles – something that is rapidly changing today with efforts to steer females and males alike into the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field. The “pink collar job” definition is generally used to describe jobs held primarily by women. The terminology joins the ranks of “blue collar” jobs, which are typically labor- and service-oriented, and “white collar jobs,” which describes work often related to management roles or professional occupations.

• A major reason for the existence of such a practice is the stereotypes imbibed with the gender and gender roles which led to the belief in many managers that women are not that serious about their career and their work life is temporary.
• Both women and men now occupy roles as employees and managers in all ranks, including what have traditionally been categorized as white, blue and pink collar professions.
• For the first time women were not completely dependent on themselves, in 1933 the federal government expanded in its responsibility to female workers.
• The term was used to distinguish female-orientated jobs from the blue-collar worker, a worker in manual labor, and the white-collar worker, a professional or educated worker in office positions.

Blue Collar jobs involve a lot of physical and manual labor, some examples include; plumbers, mechanics, mechanics, electricians and the like. However, the large-scale shift toward services provision and away from goods production is leading to more millennial men getting the pink collar jobs. The question in front of them is more often than not about the job security.

Other classifications

Whitecollar jobs usually pay very well and these positions very often require a degree in a specialized area as well as some work experience. Some examples of White Collar jobs include; corporate executives, advertising and public relation professionals, architects, stockbrokers, doctors, dentists and dietitians. Very often these positions can be highly stressful, demanding and require good time management skills.

• It started as a small walkout, with a handful of members from one shop and grew to a force of ten of thousands, changing the course of the labor movement forever.
• In 1913 the ILGWU signed the well-known “protocol in the Dress and Waist Industry” which was the first contract between labor and management settled by outside negotiators.
• The definition has also been altered, but it hasn’t been totally separated from its sexist origins.
• Following World War II, teaching, nursing and secretarial work were some of the only occupations readily available for women.
• Blue collar typically referred to jobs in which clothes could get dirty while doing physical work, while white collars could be worn in office environments where they were less likely to get soiled as work was non-manual.
• Fortunately, significant advances have been made in the way society as a whole views occupations, skills, talents and gender roles.

There are myriad reasons as to why many women are attracted to or currently working in pink collar jobs. Following World War II, teaching, nursing and secretarial work were some of the only occupations readily available for women. But as time progressed and more women joined the employment ranks, they were often raising families simultaneously and looked for roles that had predictable hours so they could combine work and childcare.

It can be frustrating to be defined by a demographic and labeled with a collar color, particularly as people of all genders, ages and ethnicities work across a wide range of occupations as contributing members of society. The terminology, however, came into play after World War II as a way to differentiate what were, at the time, considered “skilled” or “unskilled” professions. Blue collar typically referred to jobs in which clothes could get dirty while doing physical work, while white collars could be worn in office environments where they were less likely to get soiled as work was non-manual. The term “pink collar worker” became more prevalent in the 1970s and 1980s when a greater number of women began entering the workforce, and many continued to take on roles held primarily by women.

A former writer/producer for The Discovery Channel, she is now a freelance writer and delighted to be sharing her talents and time with the wonderful Zippia audience. Other scholars, such as Kim Golombisky, acknowledge the inequalities of women, and especially certain minority groups and different classes, as part of the cause of this phenomenon. In 1913 the ILGWU signed the well-known “protocol in the Dress and Waist Industry” which was the first contract between labor and management settled by outside negotiators. Various other “collar” descriptions exist as well, although none have received the kind of broad use in American English as the traditional white-collar/blue-collar distinction.