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.
In terms of skilled labor, electricians have added more positions than average since 2021.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 23, 2026
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
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
In Lynn, Mass., shopkeepers consolidated skilled labor while distributing semiskilled work to households.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 30, 2025
But we are limited, as I have said, largely by the lack of skilled labor.
From Proceedings of the Second National Conservation Congress at Saint Paul, September 5-8, 1910 by United States. National Conservation Congress
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.
