# Do you consider engeineers/programmers/IT "white collar"?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [June 22, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030 "2007-06-22T17:33:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\
**Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030/21 "2007-06-23T22:06:56Z")

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“engineers/programmers/IT”? Isn’t that a bit like saying pilots/gym teachers/lyracists? How are these a related group?

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**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030/22 "2007-06-24T02:26:03Z")

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[QUOTE=Dangerosa]  
And with that in mind, a programmer is unlikely to work up much of a sweat - the guy building the rack in the data center - on some days he has a very blue collar job - on other days, he may be the guy watching the monitoring software.  
[/QUOTE]

Or even on the same day. My Operations Analyst position has both of those responsibilities–if he’s not in the data center building racks or running cable, he’s likely out monitoring the network/servers.

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**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030/23 "2007-06-24T06:31:49Z")

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Definitely white collar. Back when more people used those terms, programmers and just about everyone in IBM had to wear white shirts.

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030/24 "2007-06-24T06:50:38Z")

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Looking at all the lame embroidered-logo swag I receive in lieu of a competitive salary, I’d have to consider myself a “cheap-ass denim collar” worker. 😉

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**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\
**Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-consider-engeineers-programmers-it-white-collar/409030/25 "2007-06-24T21:02:10Z")

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Daughter, sister, and girlfriend of engineers and a programmer here. Like **mtgman** , I’ve always seen the distinction between blue collar and white collar as manual vs. mental work. To me, engineers and IT types are different forms of white collar worker, just like accountants and sales reps. Several years ago, I also learned that, according to the US Department of Labor, programmers are professional/managerial workers, thus out of their jurisdiction, at least for the problem I approached them about.

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