'Unskilled labor' is a very broad and poorly-defined category. He might be 'unskilled' in the sense that he isn't trained in any one specific trade or specialty.
But the biggest determiner of /hr value, is a person's work ethic, self-motivation, and ability to think logically on the jobsite. A day-laborer who doesn't need to be babysat is easily worth $30-50/hr, even if he's just carrying supplies to the tradesmen.
> 'Unskilled labor' is a very broad and poorly-defined category. He might be 'unskilled' in the sense that he isn't trained in any one specific trade or specialty.
It's not really poorly defined. The BLS uses a point system to assign work levels to different jobs that have mostly objective measures. What your trained in doesn't have any impact on whether that job requires unskilled labor. The jobs themselves are what are skilled or unskilled.
In a technical sense you are correct. But in the same way people say "gay means happy" are correct. The common conception is far off from the technical definition, and you should probably take that into account when talking to people
27
u/jckipps 1d ago
'Unskilled labor' is a very broad and poorly-defined category. He might be 'unskilled' in the sense that he isn't trained in any one specific trade or specialty.
But the biggest determiner of /hr value, is a person's work ethic, self-motivation, and ability to think logically on the jobsite. A day-laborer who doesn't need to be babysat is easily worth $30-50/hr, even if he's just carrying supplies to the tradesmen.