Blue Collar vs. White Collar Jobs?

>>18070643

>blue collar
>healthier

this is not really the case. a LOT of blue collar people die young due to health conditions. every jobs different but a lot of them are at least exposed to building materials and the like that arent healthy to breathe in over the course of thirty years, it works your body to the bone on a daily basis, and because of all the hard work your impulse control is a lot lower.

someone who's spent the whole day lifting shit is more likely to binge eat unhealthily which is why you see a lot of fatties in the field, and even those wiht impulse control tend to just be too exhausted in their home life to maintain healthy habits.

working in an office means not feeling like shit just because you didn't get enough sleep the night before.

working in an office means coming home and having energy for your wife and kids instead of feeling like you exist simply to lift shit. working in an office means only needing to exercise as much as necessary, meaning you ahve enough energy to hit the fucking gym afterwards.

white collar offers more freedom as a whole which allows you to maintain your life outside of wokr a lot better.

blue collar just works you to the bone for not so great pay.

perhaps im biased cuz i manage a business.

>>18070643
I work a blue collar job doing HVAC and I love it. Nothing like coming home dirty and sweaty and tired, washing the fiberglass insulation and dust off my skin, taking a hot shower, and getting a beer at the bar down the street.

But I'm 27, we'll see how I feel when I'm 50.

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>>18070653
>this is not really the case. a LOT of blue collar people die young due to health conditions. every jobs different but a lot of them are at least exposed to building materials and the like that arent healthy to breathe in over the course of thirty years, it works your body to the bone on a daily basis
With very hard work jobs, then yes, it can put a strain

HOWEVER

You will be physically FIT and STRONG, WAY more so than some office cuck.

>and because of all the hard work your impulse control is a lot lower.
Sorry how the fuck is this a bad thing?

>working in an office means not feeling like shit just because you didn't get enough sleep the night before.
As a former office worker who never got enough sleep, you are completely and utterly wrong

And in fact, I slept WAY WAY WAY better when I had a job in a factory, than when I had a job in an office.

>working in an office means coming home and having energy for your wife and kids instead of feeling like you exist simply to lift shit.
Again, entirely false, office jobs can be debilitating and shit. They sap your MENTAL energy rather than your physical energy.

>working in an office means only needing to exercise as much as necessary
You mean, being an unhealthy, weak fatass.

>meaning you ahve enough energy to hit the fucking gym afterwards.
I used to go to the gym after my office job - it meant I was busy the entire fucking day and never had energy to do things that I enjoyed for myself. In a blue collar job, work IS a workout. You'll get WAY stronger lifting things all day, every day, than forcing yourself to do it after work.

>white collar offers more freedom as a whole which allows you to maintain your life outside of wokr a lot better.
This is complete bullshit. Blue collar, you go to work, you do your work, then you come home, and you're free. White collar, people are always managing their emails and other bullshit outside of work times.

>>18070653
>>18070663

Okay actually let me put this question another way.

I am well-educated - I got good grades at school, and I have a good degree from a top university (it's in humanities though, so not massively employable)

My last job was white collar, but I fucking hated being sat behind a desk, and now I keep thinking about blue collar work. I see it as having more freedom. And you get strong every single day just from doing your job. Working in an office is depressing as FUCK.

If you were in my position, would you think about pursuing blue collar work? Or am I being an idiot?

>>18070643
>There aren't as many blue collar jobs these days

Isn't it the opposite? The market for skilled (college educated) white collar jobs is saturated, while there is an abundance of skilled (technical/trade training/certification) jobs that have no one to fill them.

I've heard you can make six figures in the right areas as a plumber, welder, or electrician. If you don't mind dirty, sometimes dangerous physical labor, then it sounds like a good trade off.

>>18070687

I'm white collar and i disagree. you're blue collar and you disagree.

>>18070653
I repair oil field equipment and I work with hazardous chemicals and epoxies frequently, and while I wear a mask there's been occasions where I've inhaled things I shouldn't have. I also work with extremely heavy equipment that can maim and kill you. Luckily I've only broken a finger. Then I'm on my feet for at least 8 hours a day and my feet are callused to hell. I wear comfortable boots with good inserts but it still takes it's toll eventually. I'll probably develop arthritis. Last winter my hands actually started to get symptoms but I think it's partially due to breaking a finger, trauma can do induce early arthritis. Never the less, working with your hands all day takes it's toll also. Then there's the back problems from having to stand/hunch over things while you work for extended periods of time, or lift heavy things sometimes. inb4 take more breaks, I make more money based on production output and I have the highest in the company. I do take breaks every couple hours though to eat cause I eat a lot since I workout. So all in all it's actually pretty bad on your body.... I'm only 30 and if I didn't eat so well and take care of my body by exercising regularly I'd probably be in pretty bad shape already and going down that path but since I am in good shape a lot of those things I listed off don't effect me personally as much since I've been doing this for about 5 years.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job and it's challenging. There's a great sense of pride in being able to take apart incredibly intricate mechanical machines, clean them, and put them back to together and making them look new again.

>>18070729
There's a ton of jobs in IT, but manufacturing has completely shrivelled up.

Yes there are still some blue collars jobs - nowhere near as many as there used to be.

>>18070738
I've worked both, I just wanted to counter your points, because I didn't think they were fair.

>>18070715

There's not a lot of growth available in a blue-collar job. You may make six figures at some point, but as others have mentioned, eventually your body breaks down. If you get into an accident, suddenly you have no source of income.

I'd argue that blue collar work is much more restrictive - you don't get weekends off necessarily, projects can have you up early or late at the whim of the business's needs, and you're certainly not able to leave whatever you're doing in the middle of your shift.

I'm a white collar worker, and as I've moved up in the ranks, I've gotten unlimited paid vacation, they don't really mind if I jet out a little early on a specific day, or show up a little late, and if I need to go grab my dry cleaning, it's no big deal.

I mean, sitting at a desk isn't the most fun thing, but if you're having a shit day or are hungover, you can occasionally just ignore what you need to be doing and spend the day shitposting or doing Buzzfeed quizzes.

Plus the max pay over time has a higher ceiling.

>>18070687
Just cause you work a "blue collar" job doesn't mean you'll be FIT and STRONG. I'm >>18070742 aside from that I worked in construction for a few years before that and in both jobs I've worked with some relatively weak people. These jobs don't necessarily require you to be strong, sure you should be able to lift about 80 lbs but that's really not that much. So if someone limits themselves maxing out at lifting some ~80 lb weight they aren't going to get that strong. Frankly any able bodied male who is in shape should be able to lift 80 lbs, but I would probably guess most people in an office couldn't manage that. So in a way you're right, but for the most part a lot of "blue collar" workers aren't THAT strong. Your employer doesn't want you to get hurt, so you aren't being asked to do things that difficult in the majority of jobs. Just speaking from experience.

>>18070653
Also to hit on some of your other points.

I eat incredibly healthy. Only lean meats and fresh vegetables/fruits/nuts. Absolutely nothing processed. But when I worked construction and not in a warehouse, yeah a lot of us ate like shit because it's the only quick option available.

Sure I get sapped at work busting my ass all day but I still manage to hit the gym for an hour when I get off 5 days a week. It's called dedication.

As far as time, some of the jobs do take up a lot of your time. My last job did, but my current job frankly allows me too much free time even after my 40, and some occasional overtime.
Yes, blue collar work physically works you to the bone but the pay is great. I'll get to about $65K in my current position. I would already be there but the downturn in the industry over the last 2 years was bad and I'm just luck to still have my job. My buddy does construction and cleared $90K last year. Two other guys who do similar work made well over $100K the past couple of years....

Lol nope. I'm what you'd call blue collar, I build beer tanks in a metal fabricator shop and I've worked construction, roofing and carpentry jobs before. Every day I inhale dust, fumes and other things slowly whittling away my long term health. I don't work out anymore because as white collar anon said, getting home means time to take care of the wife kids and house, and working out before work is impossible as I start at 6 every morning which is early enough for me. I wish to God I'd gotten a degree and had an office job, but now I'm in the thick of it and have a family to support and bills to pay, I missed that flight. My life has its golden points of course but I think the quality of it could have been greatly improved with a whiter collar.

>>18070687

Blue collar is shit full of fucking idiots. I'm sorry but if you've ever worked with landscapers or construction workers you'd understand what kind of shitheads a lot of these assholes are. The pay is shit, work conditions are shit, and vast, vast VAST majority of blue collar jobs will be replaced by robotics sooner than later. It's a dying field. The only "blue collar" trade worth a damn in my opinion would be cooking. If you master it well enough after years of hard work and practice you can become a great chef and success can come your way. But it's very difficult albeit if you have a true passion for food then it's doable.

>>18070757
I guess you do have a point. As I say I'm well educated, but I know some people in blue collar stuff (electrician, working on railways, etc) and it looks like they have more fun.

But yes you provide some good reasons.

>>18070780
>I wish to God I'd gotten a degree and had an office job
I guess that's what I've been wondering (I'm this guy: >>18070715)

Having done jobs that involve manual work before, I think they definitely can be way more enjoyable than the office jobs I've done, where you're just sat at a desk, trapped inside a fucking office

But yes you do raise some good points to be fair.

>>18070788
I haven't worked those things no, but I know someone who's worked as a landscaper, and he's not an asshole at all.

But maybe you're right.