unskilled labor

American  

noun

1. work that requires practically no training or experience for its adequate or competent performance.

2. the labor force employed for such work.

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Etymology

Origin of unskilled labor

First recorded in 1825–35

Example Sentences

As a counterpoint, when Paul makes the same boast to the hiring manager at the local tannery, she circles “unskilled labor.”

From Los Angeles Times

I think anyone who’s done unskilled labor would be able to relate.

From Los Angeles Times

It was like, "That person took my work. That person that I can point to is using these machines and child labor and unskilled labor to run them."

From Salon

I accompanied her team as an embedded journalist, earning my keep with unskilled labor, much of it involving a snow shovel.

From Scientific American

The work was hard — Ehrenreich stopped believing in the term “unskilled labor” after doing it — and surviving on the wages was even harder, even in cities where local businesspeople were complaining to the media about a “labor shortage.”

From Los Angeles Times