Americans have always believed the corporate world is where dreams cometrue, however as an outsider I’ve always believed that getting my hands dirtyis how I see my dreams coming true. When it comes to the topic of white-collarjobs, most will readily agree that it is the ideal way to live the Americandream, this is where the agreement usually ends. However, I do question thedescription of a “good job”. Is it the one that author Barbara Ehrenreichexplains paying a sum of $50,000 annually with a health insurance plan in anon-manual task force? Or the hands-on alternative with similar pay and theflexibility of time?

Barbara Ehrenreich the author of “Bait and switch: The(futile) Pursuitof the American Dream is an American writer, journalist and political activistwho often focuses her attention on the contemporary social and culturallandscape and accentuates the plight of the poor and feminism in her writings.She uses books, essays and more recently blogs to communicate her opinions andideas. One such example is Ehrenreich’s book “Bait and Switch” which offersinsight into the “white-collar” job hunters’ life in the present-day job fair.She rightly tries to connect with her readers by citing facts and narrating thecommon misconceptions that people have about the corporate world. Hence sheinvestigates the relation of the “American dream” and the increasingunemployment in the once romanticized commercial sector. For those who havespent hours, months, and even years searching for an opportunity, there is hopeif they can triumph collectively over the adversity presented by the conditionof unemployment.

Personally, I could never see myself doing a desk job, working a 9-5shift, and being a part of the corporate pyramid. When you come from an up-and-comingcountry where statistics show that roughly 520,000students graduate with amanagement degree,(Press Trust of India, 2016) there is always that unspokenexpectation from you to follow the same path. But several blue-collar jobsoften pay more than or equal to the sum offered by the suits with theadditional benefit of peace of mind as opposed to what the author presents itto be. On one hand, white-collar jobs groom you to become punctual,well-behaved, and social but on the other, it makes you less active in turnmaking you less physically fit and mentally stressed out. This “good job” getsits appeal from the respect received.

Irrespective of the value, having a steady income is a common desire allover the world. It is directly linked with comfort and security. However, is awhite-collar job an essential need to fulfill this goal? For workers who choosesteel-tipped shoes instead of a three-piece suit, the income is not too far offfrom a corporate employee. Certain mechanics or even equipment handlers earn alarger salary than the average Joe. According to Forbes, the average salary forthe top ten blue-collar jobs is a little above $27 per hour resulting in anannual salary of $56,160 which is almost 30% more than the U.S.median income of$43,318 (Valet, 2018) and $6,160 more than Ehrenreich’s expectation from herwhite-collar job. This is not to say that Ehrenreich’s sentiments are wrong,but to say that not only did she want to expose the white-collar downwardmobility, but she wanted to have a taste of the “oh-so-glamorous” corporateworld.

Ehrenreich alsotalks about the desire for white-collar employment which is frequently hamperedby external factors like “outsourcing down-sizing and right-sizing.” Thenumbers regarding the white-collar unemployment presented by Ehrenreich duringthe first four years of the 2000sespecially the 1.6 million unemployed seemalmost unrealistic, however, it is the bitter reality that I saw closely as itimpacted my own family. During the economic downturn of the 2000s, my fatherowned a flying school which got swallowed by the tsunami wave of recessionleaving him without a job. He seemingly “stepped up” from a blue-collar job toa white-collar position just to become a part of the 20 percent of theunemployed corporate pawn. He was what Ehrenreich spoke of as the person whohad “done everything right” .Realistically, he could not go back to the “lower-leveljobs” since it would not only reflect negatively on his resume, but he was now overqualifiedfor any position lower than a top-tier executive. 

I do see the appeal of having a white-collar job, being a “suit,” andreceiving respect, and being envied by others. However, I also saw the flipside of the coin. As Ehrenreich rightly describes, “these sorts of people onairplanes, where they study books on ‘leadership,’ fiddle with spreadsheets ontheir laptops, or fall asleep over biographies of the founding fathers.” Thisis how an average corporate employee looks, overworked, stressed-out and alwaysin their own bubble. Even though this sounds like a stereotype, these overworked,corporate workers are almost exactly like machines. However, she contradictsherself. On the one hand, she argues that white-collar jobs would be far lessstressful when compared to a blue-collar job with lesser bias and “would befreer”. On the other hand, she criticizes the entire sector of corporateworkers as per her understanding of stereotypes for being workaholics with nohobbies or outside interests.

Is it the uniformof a person that dictates his well-being, safety and comfort? Or is it thestability from income that affects these concepts? Both levels of jobs require equalif not the same amount of hard work and effort, one being physicallychallenging the other is mental. As mentioned rightly by Barbara externalfactors play a big role in affecting the job market. Nevertheless, flexibilityto explore avenues acts as a safety net to help find the “good job.” Hard work,diligence, and effort put into the job, either corporate or mechanical is whatis guaranteed to have results.