labor-intensive

American  

[ley-ber-in-ten-siv] / ˈleɪ bər ɪnˈtɛn sɪv /

adjective

1. requiring or using a large supply of labor, relative to capital.

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labor-intensive Cultural  

1. A term describing industries that require a great deal of labor relative to capital (compare capital-intensive). Examples of labor-intensive industries are forms of agriculture that cannot make use of machinery and service industries, such as restaurants.

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Etymology

Origin of labor-intensive

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

labor-intensive

And in place of the sliced Swiss cheese he used to use, there’s a more labor-intensive Mornay sauce thick with Gruyère and premium dairy from California’s Straus Family Creamery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

Pans heave with labor-intensive dishes like çalkama, a Turkish pastry, and yaprak sarma, grapevine leaves filled by hand with a mixture of rice, onions, tomatoes and herbs.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026

Even with drugs like ivermectin, treating the parasite can be a labor-intensive process.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 10, 2026

However, some commissioners and residents remain skeptical, saying the benefits are uneven, and data centers create few permanent jobs after their labor-intensive construction is finished.

From Salon ● Jun. 6, 2026

He'd done three EVAs the previous day, all filled with labor-intensive Hab maintenance.

From "The Martian" by Andy Weir