Jobs Simply

Why are blue-collar jobs like that of a worker lower-paying compared to white-collar jobs like a manager?

On the face of it, a construction worker works much harder than a manager who sits in an air-conditioned room. Why then does our society has this norm that executive/management posts are higher paying compared to posts like a clerk or a worker? Is this fair? After reading the first 4 answers, I wish to add that does it mean that the world pays on the basis of "demand and supply" and not on the basis of "absolute amount of hard work done"? Why does a worker who spends whole day sweating in bright Sun not have the right to sit in a bar and sip a beer?

Public Comments

1. Excellent question. It never ceases to amaze me that the people who do the real work make less than those who sit in their cubicle and spit out worthless spreadsheets.
2. As almost everything in economics, the answer is supply and demand. There are more people that can do the "blue collar" job than can do the "white collar" job, compared to the demand for them. If all the "white collar" worker did was sit in an air-conditioned room, the situation would be reversed; there would be many more people who would want to sit in air conditioned rooms doing nothing than available rooms to sit in. So, obviously, they must be doing something else in those rooms, too, which most people can't do. Edit based on additional information: The only exception to "supply and demand" is where some law or contract interferes (examples: minimum wage laws, union contracts). Doing integral calculus to determine stress points in a new design is less physically demanding, for example, then digging holes in the ground, but because fewer people do the calculus than can dig, people pay more for it. Who can say which is harder? And I have personally seen blue-collar workers in bars sipping beer. How is that relevant?
3. its based on supply and demand. the are more people who can do the low skill jobs, so it takes a lower wage to fill those positions. There are fewer people who have the skills to fill a skilled position, so it takes a higher compensation by employers to keep people in those positions. It has nothing to do with how hard a person works. Who works harder, a ditch digger or a brain surgeon? Whose services are more valuable? It all about the value, not the sweat. Its totally fair.
4. EDUCATION..EDUCATION...EDUCATION.
5. Because management can make or break a company with their decisions. Clerks are being replaced by new computer programs. People who operate machines are being replaced by machines that only require someone to set them up and turn them on. Of course, with fewer workers, there will be fewer managers required as well. Dangerous work is paid at a higher rate for physical laborers. Work that anyone can do is paid at a lower rate because these people are so easily replaced. I don't believe any CEO is worth millions of dollars. Sometimes I believe the higher they are paid, the more likely it is that they were hired to do the prerequisite work before a company closes their doors. Doesn't make sense but that seems to be the way it goes.
6. Just to add my $.02 ... What about the millions being paid to the folks who chase a ball around a fancy gym that taxpayers pay for? The answer, I think, is intelligent marketing of one's skills, coupled with corruption in many sectors. However, when looking at the "regular" workforce, the answer lies in the years (and money) spent on one's Education. For example: I'm training legal secretaries who pay about $10,000 for an eight-month course; whereas the lawyers they work for will have, on average, spent $20,000+ per year for their education after high school. If they spend four or five years in university, that means they learn a heckovalot more and, consequently, are experts who can demand higher salaries. But they also pay mega-bucks for malpractice insurance (upwards of $100,000 a year in premiums alone!).