Laborer vs. Worker — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on October 14, 2023
A laborer is often associated with manual, physical tasks, while a worker is a general term for anyone engaged in a job or occupation.
Difference Between Laborer and Worker
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Laborers and workers are terms used to describe individuals engaged in some form of employment. While both can indicate someone who works, they carry different connotations.
A laborer is typically thought of as someone who performs physical, manual labor. This can include jobs in construction, farming, and other industries where the primary tasks are hands-on and strenuous. The term emphasizes the physical nature of the work and might suggest a lack of advanced training or specialization.
Conversely, a worker is a broad term that can encompass a wide variety of jobs, including those done by laborers. It can refer to someone in a white-collar position, blue-collar role, or any occupation in between. The term "worker" doesn't specify the nature of the job but merely indicates employment.
While a laborer is certainly a worker, not all workers are laborers. A computer programmer, for instance, is a worker but not a laborer. The distinction often lies in the physicality and specialization of the work.
Despite their differences, both laborers and workers play vital roles in the economy. Each contributes to the production and delivery of goods and services, albeit in different capacities and often in different sectors.
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Comparison Chart
Nature of Work
Typically manual and physical tasks.
Can be any type of job or occupation.
Specialization
Often lacks advanced training/specialization.
Can range from unskilled to highly specialized.
Connotation
Physical, hands-on work.
General term for someone employed.
Examples of Occupations
Construction, farming.
Programmer, teacher, engineer, cashier.
Inclusivity
A subset of workers.
Encompasses all types of employment, including laborers.
Compare with Definitions
Laborer
Often associated with construction or agricultural tasks.
The laborer tilled the field from morning till evening.
Worker
An individual engaged in a job or occupation.
The worker clocked in at 9 am sharp.
Laborer
Typically involves physical exertion.
The laborer wiped his brow after moving the heavy boxes.
Worker
Contributes to the production or service in an economy.
The worker ensured the products were of the highest quality.
Laborer
An individual performing manual work.
The laborer lifted the bricks onto the truck.
Worker
General term indicating employment.
Every worker in the factory plays an essential role.
Laborer
A laborer is a person who works in manual labor types, especially in the construction and factory industries' workforce. Laborers are in a class of wage-earners in which their only possession of significant material value is their labor, this is the proletariat.
Worker
Can be either skilled or unskilled.
The worker trained for years to become a master carpenter.
Laborer
Physical or mental exertion, especially when difficult or exhausting; work.
Worker
One who works at a particular occupation or activity
An office worker.
Laborer
A specific task or effort, especially a painful or arduous one
"Eating the bread was a labor I put myself through to quiet my stomach" (Gail Anderson-Dargatz).
Worker
One who does manual or industrial labor.
Laborer
A particular form of work or method of working
Manual labor.
Worker
A member of the working class.
Laborer
Work for wages
Businesses paying more for labor.
Worker
A member of a colony of social insects such as ants, bees, wasps, or termites, usually a sterile or sexually immature female but in termites an individual of either sex, that performs specialized work such as building the nest, collecting and storing food, and feeding other members of the colony.
Laborer
Workers considered as a group.
Worker
A person who performs labor for a living, especially manual labor.
Laborer
The trade union movement, especially its officials.
Worker
A nonreproductive social insect, such as ant, bee, termite, or wasp.
Laborer
Labor A political party representing workers' interests, especially in Great Britain.
Worker
(rare) A female ant, bee, termite or wasp.
Laborer
The process by which childbirth occurs, beginning with contractions of the uterus and ending with the expulsion of the fetus or infant and the placenta.
Worker
(computing) A thread performing one instance of a particular task within a program.
This FTP client spawns a separate worker for each file to be uploaded.
Laborer
To work; toil
Labored in the fields.
Worker
One who, or that which, works; a laborer; a performer; as, a worker in brass.
Professors of holiness, but workers of iniquity.
Laborer
To strive painstakingly
Labored over the needlepoint.
Worker
One of the neuter, or sterile, individuals of the social ants, bees, and white ants. The workers are generally females having the sexual organs imperfectly developed. See Ant, and White ant, under White.
Laborer
To proceed with great effort; plod
Labored up the hill.
Worker
A person who works at a specific occupation;
He is a good worker
Laborer
(Nautical) To pitch and roll.
Worker
A member of the working class (not necessarily employed);
Workers of the world--unite!
Laborer
To suffer from distress or a disadvantage
Labored under the misconception that others were cooperating.
Worker
Sterile member of a colony of social insects that forages for food and cares for the larvae
Laborer
To undergo the labor of childbirth.
Worker
A person who acts and gets things done;
He's a principal actor in this affair
When you want something done get a doer
He's a miracle worker
Laborer
To deal with in exhaustive or excessive detail; belabor
Labor a point in the argument.
Worker
Can be in any sector or industry.
The worker specialized in data analysis for the tech company.
Laborer
To distress; burden
I will not labor you with trivial matters.
Laborer
Of or relating to labor.
Laborer
Labor Of or relating to a Labor Party.
Laborer
(American spelling) One who uses body strength instead of intellectual power to earn a wage, usually hourly.
Laborer
One who labors in a toilsome occupation; a person who does work that requires strength rather than skill, as distinguished from that of an artisan.
Laborer
Someone who works with their hands; someone engaged in manual labor
Laborer
Might lack specialized training.
The laborer was eager to learn more about masonry.
Laborer
Engaged in hands-on roles.
The laborer mixed the cement for the foundation.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
