day laborer
Short-term worker
A day laborer is a worker hired and paid by the day, typically for manual or unskilled work such as construction, landscaping, or agricultural tasks.
Day laborers often gather at designated spots—parking lots, street corners, or hiring halls—where employers pick them up for short-term jobs.
The arrangement offers no job security or benefits, and work depends entirely on daily demand.
The contractor hired day laborers to help clear the site.
Gathering mature crops
- pickingAct of selecting
- fieldworkResearch conducted on location
- farmhandAgricultural employee
- migrant workerPerson relocating for employment
bracero · seasonal · planting · weeding · irrigation · pruning · orchard · vineyard
Process of building something
- landscapingModifying outdoor areas aesthetically
- diggingRemoving earth below
- haulingTransporting heavy items
- demolitionDeliberate structural destruction
roofing · masonry · painting · carpentry · moving · loading · unloading · shoveling
Transaction using physical currency
- no benefitsLacking additional compensation
- uninsuredLacking protective coverage
- povertySevere lack of resources
- exploitationSelfish use of others
wage theft · vulnerable · undocumented · marginalized · subsistence · precarious · insecure · hand-to-mouth
Small miscellaneous tasks
- cash-in-handPayment in physical currency
- under-the-tableSecret and unofficial
- per diemPayment by day
- pieceworkPay per unit produced
shape-up · street corner · hiring hall · on-call · walk-on · no contract · contingent
Improve conduct or condition
- contractorHired construction professional
- crew bossWorker supervisor
- foremanWorker who directs others
- dispatcherOne who allocates resources
middleman · recruitment · selection · waiting · competition · early morning · lineup
harvesting
Gathering mature crops
migrant worker · bracero · seasonal · planting · weeding · irrigation · pruning · orchard · vineyard · cotton
construction
Process of building something
- landscapingModifying outdoor areas aesthetically
- diggingRemoving earth below
- haulingTransporting heavy items
demolition · roofing · masonry · painting · carpentry · moving · loading · unloading · shoveling · clearing
cash payment
Transaction using physical currency
- no benefitsLacking additional compensation
- uninsuredLacking protective coverage
- povertySevere lack of resources
exploitation · wage theft · vulnerable · undocumented · marginalized · subsistence · precarious · insecure · hand-to-mouth · working poor
odd jobs
Small miscellaneous tasks
- cash-in-handPayment in physical currency
- under-the-tableSecret and unofficial
- per diemPayment by day
piecework · shape-up · street corner · hiring hall · on-call · walk-on · no contract · contingent
shape-up
Improve conduct or condition
- contractorHired construction professional
- crew bossWorker supervisor
- foremanWorker who directs others
dispatcher · middleman · recruitment · selection · waiting · competition · early morning · lineup
- jobsdoctor, administrator, lawyer, teacher, nurse
- workersworkers, employee, employees, wage earner, breadwinner
- casual workerscasual worker, temp, temp worker, gig worker, freelancer
- farm workersfarmer, farmworker, hired hand, field hand, farmhand
- farmworkersfarmhand, farmworker, field hand, farm hand, fieldworker
- hourly jobshourly worker, fast food worker, factory hand, part-timer, temp
day laborertenured professor
Faculty with permanent appointment
full-time staff · civil servant · company man · lifer · pensioner
day laborerexecutive
Senior organizational leader
CEO · professional · white-collar worker · manager · doctor
day laboreremployer
One who employs others
boss · business owner · capitalist · entrepreneur · hiring manager
day, labor, laborer, labored, laboring, labour, laborers, laborious, labouring