Gold-collar worker
Encyclopedia
Gold-collar worker is a neologism which has been used to describe either young, low-wage workers who invest in conspicuous luxury
, or highly-skilled knowledge workers
, traditionally classified as white collar
, but who have recently become essential enough to business operations as to warrant a new classification.
, they are often employed as retail
workers or in the hospitality industry
, particularly food service as servers. Unlike college students, though, this group tends to have more disposable income than college students, who often pay high tuition
costs, take on a number of financial loans, and often move away from their parents. A lack of financial obligations leaves young people in this situation with a higher enough level of discretionary/disposable income, which they use to finance luxury goods
. Thus, the term also carries a connotation of immaturity, the extension of youth, and nurtured adolescence, as in the movie Failure to Launch
, where a man still lives with his parents despite being well into his 30s and owning a business. In the UK the expression 'two-bob billionaire' is used, in that whilst one feels wealthy and hardworking one's status is in fact illusory.
The main challenge faced by gold-collar workers is the short-lived nature of their financial security. More often than not, these people marry and have children, and take on additional financial responsibilities such as mortgages
and health insurance. With partial or no higher education, however, their job prospects could be viewed as narrow and fairly restricted.
The color gold applies to these workers because they are highly skilled. When Kelley's book was published in 1985, these were typically understood as being young, college-educated, and specialized.
Luxury good
Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...
, or highly-skilled knowledge workers
Knowledge worker
Knowledge workers in today's workforce are individuals who are valued for their ability to act and communicate with knowledge within a specific subject area. They will often advance the overall understanding of that subject through focused analysis, design and/or development. They use research...
, traditionally classified as white collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
, but who have recently become essential enough to business operations as to warrant a new classification.
Low wage, luxury seeking
These are 18 to 25 year-old persons in a position to divert a significant portion of their earnings towards material luxuries. They typically have fewer than 2 years of post-high school education. Like their counterparts attending collegeCollege
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
, they are often employed as retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
workers or in the hospitality industry
Hospitality industry
The hospitality industry consists of broad category of fields within the service industry that includes lodging, restaurants, event planning, theme parks, transportation, cruise line, and additional fields within the tourism industry. The hospitality industry is a several billion dollar industry...
, particularly food service as servers. Unlike college students, though, this group tends to have more disposable income than college students, who often pay high tuition
Tuition
Tuition payments, known primarily as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in British English, Canadian English, Australian English, New Zealand English and Indian English, refers to a fee charged for educational instruction during higher education.Tuition payments are charged by...
costs, take on a number of financial loans, and often move away from their parents. A lack of financial obligations leaves young people in this situation with a higher enough level of discretionary/disposable income, which they use to finance luxury goods
Luxury good
Luxury goods are products and services that are not considered essential and associated with affluence.The concept of luxury has been present in various forms since the beginning of civilization. Its role was just as important in ancient western and eastern empires as it is in modern societies...
. Thus, the term also carries a connotation of immaturity, the extension of youth, and nurtured adolescence, as in the movie Failure to Launch
Failure to Launch
Failure to Launch is a 2006 American romantic comedy film. In the movie a 35-year-old man lives in the home of his parents and shows no interest in leaving the comfortable life his parents, especially his mother, have made for him there.-Plot:...
, where a man still lives with his parents despite being well into his 30s and owning a business. In the UK the expression 'two-bob billionaire' is used, in that whilst one feels wealthy and hardworking one's status is in fact illusory.
The main challenge faced by gold-collar workers is the short-lived nature of their financial security. More often than not, these people marry and have children, and take on additional financial responsibilities such as mortgages
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...
and health insurance. With partial or no higher education, however, their job prospects could be viewed as narrow and fairly restricted.
Highly skilled, highly valuable
It has been reported that the term 'Gold-Collar worker' was first used by Robert Earl Kelley in his 1985 book The Gold-Collar Worker: Harnessing the Brainpower of the New Work Force. Here he discussed a new generation of workers who use American business' most important resource, brainpower. A quote from the book summary states, "They are a new breed of workers, and they demand a new kind of management. Intelligent, independent, and innovative, these employees are incredibly valuable. They are lawyers and computer programmers, stock analysts and community planners, editors and engineers. They are as distinct from their less skilled white-collar counterparts—bank tellers, bookkeepers, clerks, and other business functionaries—as they are from blue-collar laborers. And they account for over 40 percent of America's workforce."The color gold applies to these workers because they are highly skilled. When Kelley's book was published in 1985, these were typically understood as being young, college-educated, and specialized.