The term refers to the white dress shirts of male office workers common through most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Western countries, as opposed to the blue overalls worn by many manual laborers.
The term "white collar" is credited to Upton Sinclair, an American writer, in relation to contemporary clerical, administrative, and management workers during the 1930s,[1] though references to white-collar work appear as early as 1935. White collar employees are considered highly educated and talented as compared to blue collar.
Health effectsedit
Less physical activity among white-collar workers has been thought to be a key factor in increased life-style related health conditions such as fatigue, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cancer, and heart disease.[2] Also, working at a computer could potentially lead to diseases associated with monotonous data entry such as carpal tunnel syndrome.[3] Workplace interventions such as alternative activity workstations, sit-stand desks, and promotion of stair use are among measures being implemented to counter the harms of sedentary workplace environments.[4] The quality of evidence used to determine the effectiveness and potential health benefits of many of these interventions is weak. More research is needed to determine which interventions may be effective in the long-term.[5] Low quality evidence indicates that sit-stand desks may reduce sitting in the workplace during the first year of their use; however, it is not clear if sit-stand desks may be effective at reducing sitting in the longer-term.[5] An intervention to encourage office workers to stand and move reduced their sitting time by 22 minutes after 1 year; the effect was 3-times greater when the intervention included a sit-to-stand desk. The intervention also led to small improvements in stress, wellbeing and vigour.[6][7]
The blue-collar and white-collar descriptors as it pertains to work dress may no longer be an accurate descriptor, as office attire has broadened beyond a white shirt and tie. Employees in office environments may wear a variety of colors, may dress in business casuals or wear casual clothes altogether. In addition, the work tasks have blurred. "White-collar" employees may perform "blue-collar" tasks (or vice versa). An example would be a restaurant manager who may wear more formal clothing yet still assist with cooking food or taking customers' orders, or a construction worker who also performs desk work.
^Commissaris, DA; Huysmans, MA; Mathiassen, SE; Srinivasan, D; Koppes, LL; Hendriksen, IJ (18 December 2015). "Interventions to reduce sedentary behavior and increase physical activity during productive work: a systematic review". Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health. 42 (3): 181–91. doi:10.5271/sjweh.3544. PMID 26683116.
^ abShrestha, Nipun; Kukkonen-Harjula, Katriina T.; Verbeek, Jos H.; Ijaz, Sharea; Hermans, Veerle; Pedisic, Zeljko (2018). "Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work". The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2018 (12): CD010912. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD010912.pub5. ISSN 1469-493X. PMC6517221. PMID 30556590.
^Edwardson, Charlotte L.; Biddle, Stuart J. H.; Clemes, Stacy A.; Davies, Melanie J.; Dunstan, David W.; Eborall, Helen; Granat, Malcolm H.; Gray, Laura J.; Healy, Genevieve N.; Jaicim, Nishal Bhupendra; Lawton, Sarah; Maylor, Benjamin D.; Munir, Fehmidah; Richardson, Gerry; Yates, Thomas (2022-08-17). "Effectiveness of an intervention for reducing sitting time and improving health in office workers: three arm cluster randomised controlled trial". BMJ. 378: e069288. doi:10.1136/bmj-2021-069288. ISSN 1756-1833. PMC9382450. PMID 35977732.
^"How can office workers spend less time sitting?". NIHR Evidence. 2023-06-27. doi:10.3310/nihrevidence_58670. S2CID 259679486. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
^Van Horn, Carl; Schaffner, Herbert (2003). Work in America: M-Z. CA, US: ABC-Clio Ltd. p. 597. ISBN9781576076767.
Further readingedit
Mills, Charles Wright. White Collar: the American Middle Classes, in series, Galaxy Book[s]. New York: Oxford University Press, 1956. N.B.: "First published [in] 1951."
External linksedit
The dictionary definition of white-collar at Wiktionary
February 15, 2024
white, collar, worker, awhite, collar, worker, person, performs, professional, service, desk, managerial, administrative, work, white, collar, work, performed, office, other, administrative, setting, include, paths, related, government, consulting, academia, a. Awhite collar worker is a person who performs professional service desk managerial or administrative work White collar work may be performed in an office or other administrative setting White collar workers include job paths related to government consulting academia accountancy business and executive management customer support design economics engineering market research finance human resources operations research marketing public relations information technology networking law healthcare architecture and research and development In contrast blue collar workers perform manual labor or work in skilled trades pink collar workers work in care health care social work or teaching and grey collar jobs combine manual labor and skilled trades with non manual or managerial duties Office workers Contents 1 Etymology 2 Health effects 3 Demographics 4 See also 5 Notes 6 Further reading 7 External linksEtymology editThe term refers to the white dress shirts of male office workers common through most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Western countries as opposed to the blue overalls worn by many manual laborers The term white collar is credited to Upton Sinclair an American writer in relation to contemporary clerical administrative and management workers during the 1930s 1 though references to white collar work appear as early as 1935 White collar employees are considered highly educated and talented as compared to blue collar Health effects editLess physical activity among white collar workers has been thought to be a key factor in increased life style related health conditions such as fatigue obesity diabetes hypertension cancer and heart disease 2 Also working at a computer could potentially lead to diseases associated with monotonous data entry such as carpal tunnel syndrome 3 Workplace interventions such as alternative activity workstations sit stand desks and promotion of stair use are among measures being implemented to counter the harms of sedentary workplace environments 4 The quality of evidence used to determine the effectiveness and potential health benefits of many of these interventions is weak More research is needed to determine which interventions may be effective in the long term 5 Low quality evidence indicates that sit stand desks may reduce sitting in the workplace during the first year of their use however it is not clear if sit stand desks may be effective at reducing sitting in the longer term 5 An intervention to encourage office workers to stand and move reduced their sitting time by 22 minutes after 1 year the effect was 3 times greater when the intervention included a sit to stand desk The intervention also led to small improvements in stress wellbeing and vigour 6 7 Demographics editFormerly a minority in the agrarian and early industrial societies white collar workers have become a majority in industrialized countries due to modernization and outsourcing of manufacturing jobs 8 The blue collar and white collar descriptors as it pertains to work dress may no longer be an accurate descriptor as office attire has broadened beyond a white shirt and tie Employees in office environments may wear a variety of colors may dress in business casuals or wear casual clothes altogether In addition the work tasks have blurred White collar employees may perform blue collar tasks or vice versa An example would be a restaurant manager who may wear more formal clothing yet still assist with cooking food or taking customers orders or a construction worker who also performs desk work See also editDesignation of workers by collar color Knowledge worker Salaryman White collar crimeNotes edit Oxford English Dictionary 3rd edition Electronically indexed online document White collar usage 1 first example Schroer S Haupt J Pieper C January 2014 Evidence based lifestyle interventions in the workplace an overview Occupational Medicine 64 1 8 12 doi 10 1093 occmed kqt136 PMID 24280187 Kalika Lev Carpal Tunnel Syndrome CTS Occupational Disease of White Collar Workers Opporty Retrieved 2020 03 06 Commissaris DA Huysmans MA Mathiassen SE Srinivasan D Koppes LL Hendriksen IJ 18 December 2015 Interventions to reduce sedentary behavior and increase physical activity during productive work a systematic review Scandinavian Journal of Work Environment amp Health 42 3 181 91 doi 10 5271 sjweh 3544 PMID 26683116 a b Shrestha Nipun Kukkonen Harjula Katriina T Verbeek Jos H Ijaz Sharea Hermans Veerle Pedisic Zeljko 2018 Workplace interventions for reducing sitting at work The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2018 12 CD010912 doi 10 1002 14651858 CD010912 pub5 ISSN 1469 493X PMC 6517221 PMID 30556590 Edwardson Charlotte L Biddle Stuart J H Clemes Stacy A Davies Melanie J Dunstan David W Eborall Helen Granat Malcolm H Gray Laura J Healy Genevieve N Jaicim Nishal Bhupendra Lawton Sarah Maylor Benjamin D Munir Fehmidah Richardson Gerry Yates Thomas 2022 08 17 Effectiveness of an intervention for reducing sitting time and improving health in office workers three arm cluster randomised controlled trial BMJ 378 e069288 doi 10 1136 bmj 2021 069288 ISSN 1756 1833 PMC 9382450 PMID 35977732 How can office workers spend less time sitting NIHR Evidence 2023 06 27 doi 10 3310 nihrevidence 58670 S2CID 259679486 Retrieved 2023 07 10 Van Horn Carl Schaffner Herbert 2003 Work in America M Z CA US ABC Clio Ltd p 597 ISBN 9781576076767 Further reading editMills Charles Wright White Collar the American Middle Classes in series Galaxy Book s New York Oxford University Press 1956 N B First published in 1951 External links edit nbsp The dictionary definition of white collar at Wiktionary Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title White collar worker amp oldid 1205671824, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
