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

If workers seek and get bigger pay rises, prices of labor-intensive services will likely rise and the pickup in inflation will last longer.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 1, 2026

That led to a jump in wage demands and higher prices for a range of labor-intensive services.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 25, 2026

In labor-intensive sectors —such as healthcare, education, childcare, and housing services — productivity gains are limited.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026

“That could lead to a world where it isn’t so much that specific jobs are disrupted as it is that large enterprises are disrupted in general and replaced with much less labor-intensive startups.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

Increasing their numbers was labor-intensive: scientists had to repeatedly scrape the cells from one tube and split them into new ones to give them more space.

From "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" by Rebecca Skloot