White-collar worker refers to a salaried professional or a person whose job is clerical in nature, as opposed to a blue-collar worker whose job is more in line with manual labor. White-collar work is an informal term as there's no accepted enumeration of white-collar jobs to the extent that it's typically defined as any job that isn't blue-collar. History Origin of the term The term 'white collar' was first used by Upton Sinclair in relation to modern clerical, administrative and management work… (More on White-collar)