What are low skill jobs?

Frontline workers were heralded as heroes at the onset of the COVID-19 epidemic because they were considered "vital" in the fight against the pandemic. After all, in order to keep our society functioning, they were putting their own personal health, as well as the health of members of their home, at jeopardy.

After two years of pandemic disruption in the midst of an effort to restore to "normalcy," these individuals, who were formerly considered "vital," are now being ridiculed as just "low-skill workers."

There is no such thing as a worker with low levels of expertise. No of the nature of the work being performed, there is always a certain set of abilities and information that must be had. There is no such thing as an employee with poor skills or with no skills at all.

Where the Term First Appears in Literature

The Bureau of Labor Statistics uses the phrase "low-skilled/unskilled labor" to refer to employment that either consists of regular duties or needs little to no expertise or training to do, depending on the specifics of the job. The personnel who fill these roles do not need to possess any kind of degree or certification that requires them to have completed post-secondary education.

Workers who fall into this group make up a significant section of our economy and include the millions of workers on whom we depend to keep us fed, housed, and healthy, regardless of whether we are experiencing a pandemic or not. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), "low-skilled labor" refers to a broad category of occupations that includes, amongst others, line cooks, farmworkers, construction workers, and supermarket clerks. Although there are minimal formal qualifications to attain one of these positions, does doing the work take little to no talent at all?

Concentration, coordination, and flawless timing are all necessary skills for line cooks to have while working during hectic shifts. Grape picking by hand for a whole day requires stamina, accuracy, and productivity on your part. When occupations are referred to as having "low-skill," it obscures the specific set of skills that are necessary to succeed in such jobs and implicitly justifies the low earnings that people in those positions get.

Rethinking the Jargon of the Working World

It is essential that we have a solid understanding of the implications of the language that we use. The field of workforce development is rife with ambiguous language, which makes it difficult to understand the connection that exists between people and the wider systems in which they are embedded. The phrase "low-skill worker" is a good illustration of this.

The National Fund has joined a coalition of like-minded organizations in an effort to clarify and, in some cases, change the way we talk about workforce development. This is in response to the large number of terms that are either unclear or harmful, as well as the increased media attention on the frontline, low-wage workforce. The organization published The Words of the Workforce in 2021, which is a summary of important ideas and phrases relating to the improvement of workforce development.

The term "low-skill worker" is misleading since all employees contribute some level of expertise to their occupations. In addition, labeling people as having "low skills" places the responsibility for acquiring "better" skills squarely on the shoulders of the individual, rather than on employers or industries to invest in their frontline workforce, enhance the quality of their jobs, and provide supports that enable workers to succeed and advance in their careers.

The reorganization of the labor market that occurred after the epidemic was mostly driven by frontline employees. They are leaving employment of lesser quality in order to pursue better ones, taking with them crucial skills, knowledge, and experience that are essential to the success of the firm.

Employers are coming to the realization that they need to take further action, and many of them are already doing so. Wages are going up, and an increasing number of employees are qualifying for benefits. Employers are giving serious thought to a wide range of aspects of job design in an effort to improve the overall quality of the employment they provide.

In order to solve problems with the labor force, we need to differentiate the person from the job. It is essential for human resource professionals, employers, and politicians to have a solid understanding of this difference. As we emerge from the epidemic, it is imperative that we acknowledge a fundamental reality about our labor force, which is that every worker has some set of abilities.