[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-324689-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-324689-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","is-this-really-awhite-collar-recession","Is This Really a“White-Collar Recession?","","This article examines whether the early-1991 economic downturn is truly a white-collar recession, focusing on employment and unemployment outcomes tied to workers’ well-being. It addresses how media claims about white-collar workers being hit disproportionately hard compare with labor data. Using multiple angles, it finds that the evidence generally rejects the idea that white-collar employees face worse fates than blue-collar workers during this downturn.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/is-this-really-awhite-collar-recession/324689/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/is-this-really-awhite-collar-recession/324689.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Ezra","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-02","2026-09-21",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",13,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What question does the article investigate about a recession?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It investigates whether the downturn is truly a white-collar recession, rather than assuming that history will automatically label it that way.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How does the article define who counts as white-collar workers?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It cites the U.S. Department of Labor’s occupation categories and explains how most categories map cleanly to white-collar or blue-collar, while service occupations require separate consideration.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What does the article conclude about whether white-collar workers are hit disproportionately?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"With only one exception, the answers to several employment and unemployment questions reject the notion that white-collar employees suffer disproportionately in 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official arbiter of businesscycles)decrees it,we cannot be certain thathistory will record the current economicdowntum as arecession.Nonetheless,many economic analysts and media repre-sentatives have chosen not to wait for theofficial pronouncement,proclaiming notonly that the U.S.economy is in the midstof a recession,but that this downtum is dif-ferent from previous ones because it hashit white-collar workers disproportionatelyhard.'While both issues provide interest-ing material for debate,this article investi-gates only whether we are indeed experi-encing a white-collar downturn.  \nThe emphasis on the plight of white-collar workers may be traced to theregional and industrial origins of the cur-rent downturm.Initial signs of a slumpwere centered in the Northeast,and pri-marily in that region's financial serviceand real estate industries.Understandably,early media coverage focused on layoffsin these predominately white-collar indus-tries.Now that the slowdown has deep-ened and spread to other regions and sec-tors,it is appropriate to examine theassumption that white-collar workershave been the primary target of currentemployment cutbacks.  \nThe term\"white-collar recession\"isnotprecisely defined.Media accounts of thecurrent downtum often refer to salariedemployees and convey the image of longunemployment lines now filled withwhite-collar workers where blue-collar  \n# Is This Really a“White-Collar Recession?\n\nworkers once stood.Reports of wagecuts and suspension of bonuses andprofit sharing in the white-collar rankshave also been noted.Certainly,no sin-gle dimension of the employment situa-tion can totally capture the relativefates of white-and blue-collar workersduring this downturn.We concentrateon employment/unemployment data,however,because they are closelylinked to workers'well-being and arethe most current information available.  \nWe find at least six ways to ask whetherthis is truly a white-collar downturn.For instance,what is the relative shareof white-and blue-collar workers inthe poo of unemployed;what is theirshare of the recently unemployed;anddo white-collar workers have a higherunemployment rate than blue-collarworkers?²With only one exception,the answers to these and three addition-al questions soundly reject the notionthat,in general,white-collar employeesare suffering disproportionately.  \n■ White-Colla vs.Blue-Colla JobsWho are white-collar workers?The De-partment of Labor has defined six broadcategories of occupations:1)manage-rial and professional specialties,2)tech-nical,sales,and administrative occupa-tions,3)service occupations,4)precisionproduction,craft,and repair workers,  \n5)operators,fabricators,and laborers,and 6)faming,forestry,and fishing oc-cupations.  \nMarch 15,1991  \nThere has been some suggestion ineconomic circles and the news mediathat the current downturn has hitwhite-collar workers disproportion-ately hard.This articleexamines theissue from several perspectives andfinds overwhelming evidence to thecontrary.However,as the blue-collarshare of the work force continues todwindle,employers faced with declin-ing sales may increasingly view theirwhite-collar staff as “\"fair game.”  \nOf these six,allbut service occupa-tions can be easily classified as whitecollar or blue collar.The first two cate-gories are clearly white-collar occupa-tions,and the last three categories areobviously blue-collar jobs.But serviceoccupations(which include workers inprivate households and in the protec-tion,health,food,and personal serviceindustries)do not fit easily into eithergroup.Like blue-collar jobs,servicejobs are usually paid hourly,may besomewhat physical in nature,and re-quire only moderate to low levels ofgeneral education.However,like white-collar employees,service workers gen-erally produce intangible,nonstorableproducts.Thus,to answer some of thequestions posed below,we consider theservice occupations separat","cbCainiQoebSLyA9","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCainiQoebSLyA9","pdf",1197478,"English","# Is This Really a“White-Collar Recession?\n## White-Collar vs. Blue-Collar Jobs\n## Six Different Perspectives","[{\"question\":\"What question does the article investigate about a recession?\",\"answer\":\"It investigates whether the downturn is truly a white-collar recession, rather than assuming that history will automatically label it that way.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article define who counts as white-collar workers?\",\"answer\":\"It cites the U.S. Department of Labor’s occupation categories and explains how most categories map cleanly to white-collar or blue-collar, while service occupations require separate consideration.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the article conclude about whether white-collar workers are hit disproportionately?\",\"answer\":\"With only one exception, the answers to several employment and unemployment questions reject the notion that white-collar employees suffer disproportionately in general.\"}]","Is This Really a“White-Collar Recession? | PDF",1789968614]