The Rise of ‘New Collar Workers’ — and 7 Ways to Make the Trend Work

Could hiring “new collar workers” make HR the company hero?

Probably.

So grab your capes, HR pros. We have the dirt on this growing trend and how you can maximize it for your organization.

What are New Collar Workers?

If blue collar employees are traditionally trade workers, and white collar workers are traditionally those with four-year degrees, then what are new collar workers?

“What we’re starting to realize is that both of those terms leave out a tremendous segment of our population: smart, high-aptitude, and in many cases skilled individuals who, for whatever reason, decided not to pursue a degree — the new collar workers,” says Don Gannon-Jones, VP of Content at Karat.

The newest new collar workers — who we’ll categorize as highly skilled professionals without a degree — are in good company: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Jack Dorsey and Larry Ellison — all billionaires and founders of major tech companies — were new collar workers before we called them new collar workers!

New collar jobs are emerging particularly in health care, engineering, technology and software, according to Monster.

Why More New Collar Workers?

So why the rise in new collar jobs and workers? Cost, partly. Demand, partly.

Many young adults are soured by rising college costs and potential student loan debt. So today two-thirds of the working population don’t have college degrees, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Meanwhile, trade school students — who get degrees and certifications in fewer years — are more likely to get jobs right out of school than university students, according to data from the National Center for Education.

“Without a doubt, students are more reluctant to go tens of thousands of dollars into debt for a degree that doesn’t necessarily create a straightforward path to financial security,” says Gannon-Jones.

More important to the new collar worker trend: Not having a college degree doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified to do jobs that previously required that piece of paper.

Benefits of New Collar Jobs

Here’s one of the biggest reason new collar jobs are rising: Employers can train employees for the role they need to fill easier than ever — and degree-less employees can pursue the training for the field they want.

Continuing ed courses, online classes, certification programs, boot camps and intentional upskilling efforts are popular and relatively inexpensive — especially compared to a four-year degree — to get up to speed on technology. New collar employees can get a foot in a door with relevant skills.

Case in point: “I also don’t have a degree. I was a trade apprentice, and I’ve learned about technology, tech education, assessment and leadership through on-the-job work and being given an opportunity to learn and grow on the job,” says Gannon-Jones.

Another benefit: Hiring people out of the 60% of the population that doesn’t have a degree will increase the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) equation within your organization. You can create a workforce that has a greater diversity of backgrounds, experiences and perspectives.

What else can new collar workers bring to the table: “Aptitude. Productivity. Actually-useful-on-the-job skills,” says Gannon-Jones. “In my experience, they can also bring a greater sense of humility and a strong desire to learn the business from the inside out.”

Find, Hire New Collar Workers

Now that we might have convinced you that new collar workers have a future in your organization, here are three tips to find, recruit and hire them:

• Go through job descriptions and delete requirements or preferences for degrees — except in fields where a degree is a hard requirement, such as law, finance and medicine. In those cases, ask for the specific degree that is required for the role. On the fence about dumping the degree requirement? “Ask yourself, ‘Are there other ways to become well-educated for this role?'” says Gannon-Jones. Example, many software engineers have a computer science degree, but a job candidate can get those skills from a coding program. So, no need for a degree.
• Be clear that you’re looking for specific job-relevant skills. List those as the absolute make-or-break for the role. Don’t list nice-to-haves because you can probe for those in interviews. Describe the specific aptitudes that are important to your organization — for instance, collaboration, professionalism and collegiality. 
• Assess skills and abilities as you interview. Evaluating candidates based on what they can actually do, rather than relying on where they’ve worked or studied, will help you find better-fit employees.

Help New Collar Workers Succeed

“If you’re asking an employee to invest their time in your organization, ask yourself what investment you’re willing to make in them,” says Gannon-Jones.

Invest and you’ll help them succeed. Four tips:

• Offer opportunities to continue to learn and grow on-the-job in different ways. Offer training on communication, leadership, business decision-making and feedback. Invest in these skills, too, and make employees more valuable to you. It’ll make them more loyal to you.
• Set up mentorships. This is especially helpful in smaller organizations where time and resources for more formal training are limited. And mentors don’t need to have a degree either. Your internal experts from all walks of work can help new employees adapt to your workplace. 
• Broaden their view. Expose new collar workers to situations and experiences outside their normal work groove. They need to see the “why” behind operations and business decisions.
• Redefine worker success and do performance appraisals to reflect that. For example, you might add room between “Does Not Meet Expectations” and “Meets Expectations” for a worker who’s developing into their role. You might create new reasonable expectations for how long that will take. And you’ll want to find a mechanism to identify high-aptitude, strong performers who you can nurture and grow into future leaders.