labor-intensive

[ley-ber-in-ten-siv]

adjective

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

labor-intensive

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of labor-intensive¹

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

Doctors and other healthcare professionals protested the vote outcomes and the new ACIP’s departure from traditional procedures for weighing evidence based on a labor-intensive evaluation of the latest research.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

While the U.S. accounts for about 20% of India’s goods exports, the U.S. tariffs will be felt in India’s most labor-intensive industries, imperiling employment for hundreds of thousands of people.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

This developing plot line, however, stays in the background as customers turn up demanding to look like Beyoncé or requesting micro braids, a labor-intensive torture for overworked hands.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Everything is very labor-intensive on our part just so that we can actually engage in our culture,” said Kimberly Johnson, secretary for the tribe.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

These strategies can be labor-intensive, expensive and ineffective for large infestations.

Read more on Los Angeles Times