Stop calling them 'unskilled'
A growing set of critics argues that labeling jobs “unskilled” is being used to justify poverty wages and dampen demands for higher pay, not to describe worker value (x.com). They point out that calling work “unskilled” masks the reality that many such roles deliver steady essential services while paying under roughly ₹30,000 a year in many places (x.com).
The fight is over a label: critics say calling millions of jobs “unskilled” turns essential work into a rationale for low pay. (ilo.org) The International Labour Organization said in its 2023 report on essential work that many “key” jobs in food, cleaning, transport, security and care are indispensable but still lack decent conditions. The same report found key employees earn 26 percent less on average than non-key workers, and one in three is low-paid. (ilo.org) That gap shows up in U.S. pay data. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says cashiers typically have no formal education requirement and earned a median $14.99 an hour in May 2024; janitors and building cleaners, who mostly learn on the job, earned $17.27; food preparation workers earned $16.45. (bls.gov 1) (bls.gov 2) (bls.gov 3) The point critics make is not that training never matters. It is that “no formal educational credential” is not the same thing as “no skill,” and the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures many of these jobs as requiring on-the-job training, experience with customers, pace, safety rules or physical coordination. (bls.gov 1) (bls.gov 2) (dol.gov) The argument has gained force since the coronavirus pandemic, when governments and employers classified grocery clerks, cleaners, delivery workers and care aides as essential enough to report in person during shutdowns. In 2020, Brookings found essential workers made up about 47 percent of workers in occupations with median pay below $15 an hour. (brookings.edu) (ilo.org) Global wage data point the same way. The International Labour Organization said in its 2024-25 Global Wage Report that wage inequality has declined in about two-thirds of countries since the start of the century, but it also said millions of workers still earn too little for a decent standard of living, and in low-income countries half of wage workers earn less than about $201 a month in purchasing-power terms. (ilo.org 1) (ilo.org 2) The debate also runs through immigration, labor policy and hiring systems, where “skilled” often means a diploma, license or salary threshold rather than the actual demands of the job. The U.S. labor department’s O*NET database describes occupations by tasks, knowledge, abilities and work activities across the economy, not by a simple skilled-versus-unskilled split. (dol.gov) Employers and some economists still use the term as shorthand for jobs with low formal entry barriers, short training periods or limited credential requirements. The Bureau of Labor Statistics, for example, classifies 109 occupations as typically needing no formal educational credential for entry, while also noting that many still require on-the-job training to reach average performance. (bls.gov) (bls.gov) The pushback is aimed at that shorthand itself. If a job keeps hospitals running, shelves stocked, offices clean or older adults cared for, critics say the wage debate should start with what the work does and what it demands, not with a label that suggests it takes nothing to do it. (ilo.org) (brookings.edu)
