Most “unskilled labor” is heavily skill dependant. You wouldn’t want a chef, builder or plumber who didn’t know what they were doing. And for production: machinists, mechanics and foremen make or break profit with their skills.
So what’s a better name for these jobs?
While you’re right, first I wanna say, “unskilled labor” tends to be cashiers, stocking, waiting on tables, that sort of thing. Any job where you’re an apprentice for any length of time, thats skilled labor.
“skilled labor” vs "unskilled labor would be named best as “credentialed labor” and “on-the-job training labor” in my opinion. There might be a better word, but the meaning of those is more accurate.
I was great at my call center job, I had skills that got me promotions, but many those skills could’ve only been taught at that job, and they only applied at that job. It’s not that that job didn’t have skills, it’s that you couldn’t arrive with all the skills you’d need to succeed.
This is also true of “skilled” labor, but to a much lesser degree.