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.
Many of the price complaints in business surveys are classic supply constraints: tariffs; Persian Gulf energy volatility; construction materials; tight skilled labor and AI-driven bottlenecks.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 6, 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
It’s harder to find skilled labor and there is now a lengthy wait list for equipment, said Deysel, a geophysicist and mining engineer who has previously worked at various mines across Africa.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026
Today’s promising examples—semiconductors in Arizona, advanced textiles in Massachusetts, electric vehicles in Michigan—depend on innovation, skilled labor, low interest rates and complex global supply chains.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 6, 2025
Bulgarian industrial growth since World War II had been remarkable, considering particularly the inadequate base of skilled labor and natural resources in a country that had been predominantly agricultural.
From Area Handbook for Bulgaria by Baluyut, Violeta D.
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.
