The pandemic reminded us that jobs referred to as "low skilled"—in food service, long-term care, agriculture—are also essential. We began exploring the topic of skills at its origins: when did we start referring to jobs as “unskilled” and what have been the implications for wages, who performs the work, and the conditions?
“Such jobs as Nursery School Teacher and Practical Nurse were coded as having minimal or no significant relationship to data, people, and things, while such jobs as Dog Pound Attendant were rated as functioning at a higher level of complexity.”
A Background Note on “Unskilled” Jobs in the United States – Past, Present, and Future is now openly available in the MIT Sloan Teaching Resources Library. We hope this resource can spark discussion about the relationship between race, gender, and economic injustice.
