skilled labor
Americannoun
-
labor that requires special training for its satisfactory performance.
-
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
That’s as those companies face bottlenecks from lack of contractors, skilled labor, equipment and transmission to deliver power to compute, he said.
From MarketWatch • Dec. 29, 2025
Beijing disclosed several years ago that the shortage of skilled labor in key manufacturing sectors could reach 30 million this year.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 25, 2025
And although skilled labor shortages persist in the U.S., pharmaceutical training demands are lower than those in high-tech sectors.
From Barron's • Oct. 8, 2025
What needs and opportunities there will then be for skilled labor, for inventive talent, for managerial ability, for every element of a most highly organized community of unwontedly many diversified prospecting interests.
From The Brothers' War by Reed, John Calvin
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.
