UNBALANCED LIVELIHOOD

   Hi guys,  Today, I want to talk about the relationship and the imbalance between White collar jobs, Blue collar jobs and Pink collar jobs. Oftentimes we fail to realize the link between these jobs and the sectors in which they exist.  In Africa and other part of the world, people tend to focus more attention on certain sectors, and at the same time see others as beyond their reach or dimining (according to Urban Dictionary). Nevertheless, irrespective of the values members of the society place on it, (white collar sector, blue collar sector and pink collar jobs) they all rely on each other.

   

  White collar jobs, this refers to employees whose job entails, largely or entirely, mental or clerical work, such as in office, it is characterized with non-manual workers, highly knowledge intensive, non-routine and unstructured (Business Dictionary).  Payment for such work is relatively high  and hours or time for work is well structured, this type of work is mainly concentrated in the formal or corporate economy and they include; managers, accountants, doctors,lecturers, executives and many other professionals.

   Blue collar jobs, are jobs that require physical or manual labor; they are mostly concentrated in the informal sector or non-corporate economy. It usually requires the use of man power, less skill, and minimal level of education, as a result of this, payment for such job is relatively low irrespective of hours or time worked. Examples; market trade,car mechanics, carpenters, mechanic construction or factory workers, miners, and so on.

  Due to the economic hardship in Nigeria most jobs that were traditionally considered to be women’s work are now been occupied by the men, jobs like salesclerk, maids, receptionist, secretary, hotel housekeeper, waiter, babysitter and so on. This kind of jobs are called Pink-collar jobs and they are termed as low-status, low-paying and female-dominated occupations.

   There are a great number of Nigerian graduates who are still seeking white collar jobs due to pride, parental influence and ignorance. Being a graduate in Nigeria is easy but working in a white collar sector is under a probability. Not every graduate get the same opportunity, as some uses nepotism to gain employment into these white collar sectors and some might not even have the knowledge or skill required to work in this sector. We have a lot of well-rounded educated graduates in Nigeria working has a transport conductor, cleaners, maids and so on and these type of jobs are considered as demeaning and dirty jobs by most members of the society. Nigeria’s unemployment rate rose for the seventh straight quarter to 13.9 per cent in the third quarter of 2016 from 13.3 per cent in the previous period (source N.B.S. the National Bureau of Statistics) and with the information provided by the N.B.S each year many graduate still stay adamant on working at the white collar sector and i wonder WHY (well these reasons are best known to them) 

   There are great opportunities surrounding us.  Working in a white collar sector is seen as a privilege and i can’t deny the fact that some blue collar jobs or self-employed entrepreneurs gain more than some workers at the white collar sector in Nigeria. Also white collar worker works over time and sometimes they are being exploited, abused, degraded by there bosses at work. Not to talk of the less paid white collar workers in Nigeria, Nigeria white collar workers work round the clock and with less time to attend or spend time with their family. Seeing this there are not much difference in these sectors has they are all means of livelihood.          

   People’s attentions are now focused on being self-employed. Even with that, entrepreneurs’ needs finance capital which is not easy to obtain in Nigeria. Investment in finance capital can increase production and also generate industrial growth; a country like Nigeria needs this. A finance company is a company licensed to carry on finance company business. Finance Company Business is a company which makes loans to individuals and/or businesses much like a bank. A typical finance company act as a leading entity by extending credit. However, the main difference between a bank and a finance company is that, unlike a bank, a finance company does not accept deposits from the public. Instead, a finance company may draw funding from banks and various other money market resources.  It may also extend credit to individuals for various consumer purchases.  

Also read: Hypocritical Beings 

   
   Being an entrepreneur is not a joke. In other to succeed as an entrepreneur an individual must be educated, smart, innovative, self-driven and hardworking. Also working in a white collar sector is not easy has one must be smart, skillful and also having the knowledge of what is required of you in your place of work and always willing to learn more. These two sectors need human capital and that is why we NEED to make use of every opportunities we get, either it is coming from the WHITE collar sector, BLUE collar sector or PINK collar sector. In Nigeria market trade is often considered as an informal sector but this trade has long been integrated with the state; colonial authorities actually promoted it in Ghana as a source of tax revenue. In terms of collecting tax revenue it is often legally recognized and those who are unable to pay are doomed because their shops and goods are often destroyed. The legal protection given to the white collar sector cannot be compared because the market trade are always considered to be informal or non-corporate sectors but let’s not forget that these two sectors rely on each other has i have said earlier at the beginning of this article. 

   We will always need these other sectors we look down on. People working at the white collar sectors need food to eat and with that they rely on the farm produce coming from the rural area, blue collar or pink collar workers also rely on these farm produce. White collars who need their cars repaired need a car mechanic, elite workers sometimes needs nanny's or maids to look after their children and clean their houses.

   Company's needs blue collar workers with manual labor or working in a division of manufacturing although they might get their hands dirty but they are still needed. A blue collar worker might not earn a salary at all, he might be working for hourly wages, or he may get paid for every item produced or assembled. A blue collar worker might require the protection of a union to maintain the security of hours and future work. And there may be insecurity about the stability of the blue collar workers job.

   The poor living standards in Nigeria is of no help, according to the latest poverty report by the National Bureau of Statistic, NBS, about 112 million Nigerian (representing 67.1 per cent) of the country’s total population of 167 million now live below poverty level as global poor hits one billion mark. With this level of poverty which restricts access to the most human fundamental needs which are shelter, good health, feeding and so on. This robs individuals of their dignity and increase vulnerability to hunger, physical and mental illness, human rights abuses,exclusion and crimes. Most individual who can not achieve their goals in a society in the presumed ways (legal) shift their options to crime.

    
    We need to be open minded and stop looking down on people based on their choice of occupation for survival, we should make use of all the opportunities around us either it is coming from the white collar sector, blue collar sector or the pink collar sector.

 SHOULD THE DISCRIMINATION OF THESE SECTORS CONTINUE OR SHOULD IT BE SEEN HAS EQUALS?

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