skilled labor
Americannoun
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labor that requires special training for its satisfactory performance.
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the workers employed in such labor.
Etymology
Origin of skilled labor
First recorded in 1770–80
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Some tech leaders attribute the drop in industry employment mostly to overhiring following the pandemic, when skilled labor was hard to obtain and retain.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 1, 2026
Only a handful of emerging economies combine digital capability, a skilled labor force, and a meaningful export base in tech.
From Barron's • Dec. 22, 2025
Some experts are skeptical of startup efforts to solve what is more fundamentally a skilled labor shortage.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025
But the private sector wants to retain the ability to recruit skilled labor from abroad.
From Slate • Sep. 23, 2025
Skilled labor is a power or rather a multiple of simple labor, so that a small amount of skilled labor is equivalent to a larger amount of unskilled labor.
From Landmarks of Scientific Socialism "Anti-Duehring" by Engels, Friedrich
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
