[zlg_codes]

Not aimed at you, but the other commenters on your comment.

There is no such thing as unskilled labor. Put a fucking normie from the street into any of these 'unskilled' jobs and find out just how many skills are needed just to do something like customer service.

Looking down on those people is what will lead to another internal conflict. They'll be the ones you depend on when society goes to shit.

[bumby]

It is not a moral argument. It's a colloquialism that differentiates between different types of work. In part, those jobs are "unskilled" when they take less training to perform. It's not meant to demean the work or the worker.

A plumber or electrician is equally "skilled" work as a software developer, largely due to the extensive apprenticeship requirements.

[yencabulator]

If it can be taught to a teenager in a couple of days -- which is how many fast food employees get started -- it's not a "skill" in the context of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skill_(labor)

[yterdy]

>If it can be taught to a teenager in a couple of days

Most can't. Hence the frustration you are likely to feel dealing with a teenager in his or her first week on the job.

[yterdy]

Thank you. I wanted to put this in but couldn't figure out where it would fit.

In particular, the emotional and interpersonal regulation needed to do well at these jobs sometimes borders on superhuman. People stress over office politics, like it's not child's play compared to getting through an 8-hour shift dealing with the sick and irritable public that come into Wendy's or Walgreens with zero leverage over these people who hold your employment in their hands (not even being able to pass things off to a manager, since they're likely bouncing between different stores).

And every workplace has systems and policies that have to be learned. Smart and experienced people can analogize and cut some of the learning curve, but it's still measured in days and weeks, not hours.

[derefr]

Most jobs ever done by convicts as penal labor would be fundamentally unskilled, no? These are jobs with no expectation of unique talent or skill; with no lengthy on-the-job training; with no ability to fail at the job so badly that they would ever "fire" you. Jobs like "here's a pickaxe, start hitting rocks" or "sit here and pull down the stamper each time a license plate is in front of you" literally can't be done poorly — only done either efficiently or lazily.

[jj999]

If I was to do penal labor, I'd search all days for way do to it poorly.

[rgblambda]

The difference between unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled labour is usually based on how long it takes to learn how to do the job. It's not meant to be demeaning.

[Wytwwww]

"Unskilled" just means that those type of jobs don't require any prior experience or qualifications. No need to interpret every word literally..

[WalterBright]

The local Starbucks has regular staff turnover. I've observed that it takes a new guy about 2 days to get up to speed on how to make the treats and run the cash register. Over time they'll get better and more efficient at it, but not that much.