The Definition of Unskilled Jobs

Unskilled jobs typically are those that you can learn while working in a relatively short time, usually less than 30 days, according to the Social Security Administration. You don’t need to practice a significant amount of judgment when working unskilled jobs, and you may or may not need special physical abilities. While you'll earn a paycheck, you don’t accrue significant work skills that lead to career advancement from unskilled positions.


Many of the unskilled jobs in the US are in restaurants. The fast food industry employs workers with little or no experience, while other restaurants use unskilled workers to wash dishes and fill host and hostess jobs. Farm workers harvesting crops in the fields and working in greenhouses and nurseries usually have no skills. Other occupations for unskilled labor include amusement park attendants, cashiers, personal aides and movie theater ushers and ticket takers.


Unskilled workers are paid at or near minimum wage. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2011, about 13 percent of service workers earned a minimum wage, which was $7.25 that year. Six out of 10 minimum wage employees worked in food preparation and other service-related jobs. Salaries can go as high as $10 an hour for unskilled workers willing to learn a trade, however. For example, in 2011, a major shipbuilder hired 1,000 unskilled workers to help it fulfill its contracts.


For the most part, teenagers with no work experience have taken up unskilled jobs. According to NBC News, however, that demographic changes during economic downturns such as the recessionary periods in 2008 and 2009, when mid-level employees had to take unskilled positions just to survive. Immigrants fill another category that takes up many unskilled labor spots, especially on farms.


While many educated workers may take unskilled positions to pay the bills in a down economy, the majority of unskilled workers remain in low-paying jobs because of a lack of education, according to the Department of Labor. Unskilled workers without further education in basic reading and math skills face limited prospects. Workers need effective soft skills, such as good work habits and interpersonal proficiency, before they can move from the ranks of unskilled laborers.