white collar
Desk job type
White collar describes work done in offices rather than factories, fields, or shops—professional, managerial, or administrative jobs where employees traditionally wore dress shirts.
A white-collar worker sits at a desk; a white-collar crime involves financial fraud or embezzlement rather than violence.
The term contrasts with blue collar (manual labor) and increasingly with pink collar (service work).
Professional work location
- suitMatched formal garments
- managementOrganizing and directing resources
- businessCommercial activity or occupation
- boardroomCorporate decision venue
corporation · headquarters · enterprise · multinational · conglomerate · shareholder · merger · acquisition
Related to organization management
- secretaryAdministrative office aide
- receptionistVisitor-greeting office worker
- clerkOffice record-keeper
- filingStoring documents systematically
typing · bookkeeping · scheduling · correspondence · memos · invoices · transcription · shorthand
Licensed legal representative
- accountantFinancial records keeper
- engineerTechnical design professional
- architectBuilding design professional
- consultantProfessional advice provider
physician · analyst · economist · scientist · researcher · professor · solicitor · barrister
Top corporate officer
- CFOTop corporate money officer
- C-suiteTop executive positions
- directorOne who leads
- chairpersonOne who leads meetings
leadership · strategy · decision-maker · governance · oversight · authority · stakeholder · visionary
office
Professional work location
- suitMatched formal garments
- managementOrganizing and directing resources
- businessCommercial activity or occupation
boardroom · corporation · headquarters · enterprise · multinational · conglomerate · shareholder · merger · acquisition · finance
administrative
Related to organization management
- secretaryAdministrative office aide
- receptionistVisitor-greeting office worker
- clerkOffice record-keeper
filing · typing · bookkeeping · scheduling · correspondence · memos · invoices · transcription · shorthand · stenographer
lawyer
Licensed legal representative
- accountantFinancial records keeper
- engineerTechnical design professional
- architectBuilding design professional
consultant · physician · analyst · economist · scientist · researcher · professor · solicitor · barrister · pharmacist
CEO
Top corporate officer
chairperson · leadership · strategy · decision-maker · governance · oversight · authority · stakeholder · visionary · entrepreneur
- metonymsWall Street, Hollywood, the Kremlin, Capitol Hill, Downing Street
- work attirebusiness casual, formal attire, smart casual, casual Friday, power suit
- workjob, 9 to 5, jobs, labor, employee
- workersworkers, employee, employees, laborer, laborers
- careersdoctor, lawyer, teacher, engineer, nurse
- corporatecorporation, CEO, office, CFO, cubicle
white collarblue collar
Manual labor workforce
manual labor · working class · industrial · trades · skilled trades
white collarblue collar
Manual labor workforce
working class · proletarian · lower class · hourly wage · rank and file
white collarviolent crime
Offense involving force or threat
street crime · petty crime · crimes of passion · armed robbery · property crime
whitewash, whiteness, whiteout, white-collar, whitened, whitener, whitehead, whiteboard, whitening