Except it's literally just an economics term referring to positions that can be reasonably learned through on the job training with little or no prior experience.
Stuff like this just muddies and distracts the conversation from the true issue, which is that those jobs deserve a living wage.
The whole point of the term unskilled labor is that it isn’t.
If you’re on an assembly line and you’re putting part A into box B, it takes an afternoon to learn and you’ll be about as fast as someone who’s been doing it for 30 years.
Either part A is in box B or it isn’t. The difference between the best person and the worst person that’s still worth employing is very small, and probably can’t be trained.
You don’t pay extra for someone with experience putting part A into box B.
Well don't you think we should fix misnomers? Also, "it's an official term" is a poor excuse. Terms change and evolve all of the time.
Tons of jobs can be taught with on the job training with little to no experience. There's a reason unskilled labor typically refers to food service and blue collar work, while white collar jobs are typically considered entry level.
We can fix two things by the way. Complaining about multiple issues under a larger umbrella doesn't "muddy the water."
For the record, I don't totally disagree with you, but don't you think capitalists at the top would rather people spend their energy arguing about the economic terminology rather than fighting for workers rights?
They would happily call it just about anything if it meant not paying workers more.
A lot of jobs can't be learnt on the fly. They either need prior training, or significant on the job or prior to work training. Those jobs will, by their nature earn a premium (basic supply and demand).
There will always be low skill jobs, and that's ok. The issue is that they are now so poorly paid that you can't survive on them.
E.g. an office janitor is an unskilled job. It's easy to get a new person up to speed on-the-fly. A janitor on a medical ward is low skilled. They require more training, but it can be on the job. Cleaning a surgery theatre is a skilled job. It requires a significant baseline of knowledge to do it right. This requires off the job training.
None are bad jobs, and all should be paid well enough to live on. However, the more specialist roles should also earn more, since they have higher requirements.
So you're saying training isn't training? That's a bold claim. Can you prove it?
And if you think an office janitor is an unskilled job. You've never met many good custodians. It's easy for anyone to go into any field and do a shit job. But whether or not you acknowledge it. Being good at something takes skill regardless of what it is. Even the migrants picking fruit in American fields are highly skilled. Or are you telling me that in less than a single season or week you could match or better them?
I think you made a non-sequitur. They never said anything about that. Simply pointed out how all jobs require knowledge and training of some sort to be good at them. Perhaps in the future you should debate in good faith and not create straw men to push a false narrative.
You could hypothetically have on-the-job training for a surgeon, but it takes a lot longer and gets very expensive. That's probably why they divide it up into pre-med, med school, internships, fellowships, etc. That and it means that companies don't have to absorb all of the cost of training new surgeons. Maybe it's not the ultimate solution to the problem since some doctors have difficulty paying off their loans. Unless you are in a highly paid specialty, you could be repaying your loans for many years.
If I were in the 19th century? Sure. We could still train them that way today even with all the knowledge we now have. It's only the knowledge that's outmoded. Not the method of training.
The method of training has severe deficiencies including the absence of standardization. Also surgeons still have apprenticeship they just have to go to med school first
The current method of training has severe deficiencies as well. Often saddling people with 6 to 7 figures of debt. And in the medical field specifically having them work shifts defined by people originally hopped up on meth and cocaine. I'd take a well rested and healthy surgeon any day over one that's sleep/stress/drug addled.
Oh and there were literal trade groups that set basic standards most times. Listen it's your prerogative if you want to argue training isn't training. It isn't a very defensible position however.
I don’t disagree that education should be free or at least affordable and at a reasonable pace, but I also stand by the position that an academic portion and institutional training are better than a training program without it.
But also you’ve moved from no such thing as skilled labor to adamantly defending apprenticeship which is a form of skilled labor training. Nobody who apprenticed is unskilled labor.
What data do you have to prove that? I get that you believe it. That doesn't make something true. Institutional educations can still vary considerably. As could apprenticeships. Standardization and accreditation are things external to both of them.
No I haven't. I simply pointed out that many people lack the skills for so called unskilled labor. And how it's largely derisive negative bullshit used to minimize and "other" people. Labor is labor. Every person should be able to support themselves via their labor in our society. If you work hard and specialize in a field. Your reward/payment is people's gratitude, respect, and defference as a subject matter expert. Don't get me wrong. As I said, surgeons, engineers etc etc etc deserve respect as anyone does for their work. But who do you think would be missed more if they suddenly disappeared one day. All the highly specialized educated people or all the unskilled labor? Think about it carefully in the context of all of human history. I'm not saying that so-called highly skilled labor doesn't help make society better. All labor does.
At what fucking point did I say or imply that they shouldn’t be compensated with a living wage? I’ve done unskilled labor, I’ve done high skilled labor. I think everyone even those unable to labor should be able to sleep indoors, have reasonable financial security, and all the other basic shit. I just also think that some labor should require a formal education because my current labor is strongly assisted by my formal education.
Your arguments have been all over the place and you’re arguing against people who aren’t taking the positions you insist we are. I’m a fucking communist. I don’t think engineers and physicians need to seize the means of production, but all of labor and yeah that includes retail workers.
And yeah many people do lack the skills to do a lot of unskilled labor, but it’s the difference between a week of training and a few years of training. And that’s fine, some really important things are difficult for reasons other than knowing out how to do them.