Which is harder - a labour job or desk job?

[Sliver]

I've had both and now I have a hybrid. I landscaped for about a decade starting in junior high right through university. Then I had a desk job in marketing for five years. Now I own a business so I do all the desk job stuff and get my hands dirty now and then as well.

I can't really figure out which is harder, though. I know labour guys think desk jobs are a walk in the park, but I think they're both hard in different ways.

[Rubicant]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I've had both and now I have a hybrid. I landscaped for about a decade starting in junior high right through university. Then I had a desk job in marketing for five years. Now I own a business so I do all the desk job stuff and get my hands dirty now and then as well.

I can't really figure out which is harder, though. I know labour guys think desk jobs are a walk in the park, but I think they're both hard in different ways.

This.

[YYC in LAX]

This is easier:

[Stay Golden]

Labour jobs are physically taxing. Most longtime office employees would not be able to endure that routine. Same as most true labour job employees would wig out in a office.

[MarchHare]

The hardest job I ever had was the summer after my first year at university. I was a groundskeeper and building maintenance worker for a property holdings company. I spent eight hours a day sweating in the hot sun performing hard manual labour...for $6/hr (this was in 1998, for perspective).

All the jobs I've had since then have been of the white collar office worker variety. They're certainly more mentally challenging than the brainless groundskeeping work I did that summer, but I'm not exactly performing hard labour anymore.

[burn_this_city]

Labour job, my office job is a joke compared to the guys that slave away outside in the hot and cold. Imagine working for a paving crew in 30 degree weather.

[Jordan!]

Office job.. come on now

[VladtheImpaler]

No contest. The effort I put in to keep in touch with you guys every day is staggering...

[valo403]

Depends what you mean by harder.

I could probably go out and do most labor jobs that I see around town quite easily, I'd be pretty sore after day one but I could get by (I spent a couple years working some pretty intense labor jobs and I'm still relatively young and healthy, in 5-10 years I'm not sure I'd be able to say the same thing). I don't think that many (likely none if you include the need for certifications etc.) of the people I see working labor jobs could step in and do my desk job though. Does that make the desk job harder? I don't know, I don't come home covered in dirt and sweat but my eyes are usually killing me and I'm definitely tired, just in a different way. There are also a lot of desk jobs out there that are an absolute breeze and could be done by anyone and labor jobs that require a lot of training and skill. The range in both is massive.

It's really such an apples to oranges situation that I don't think you can really make a fair comparison.

[valo403]

Originally Posted by burn_this_city

Labour job, my office job is a joke compared to the guys that slave away outside in the hot and cold. Imagine working for a paving crew in 30 degree weather.

Imagine what happens to your brain after a decade spent around tar fumes. Those guys are all operating at a greatly diminished capacity. They do have some pretty interesting stories though.

[Sr. Mints]

There's no way you'd find me doing any sort of laborious job for the rest of my life.

Conversely, I know how much money it takes for me to get out of bed in the morning doing a desk job, and I can't see myself doing it for any less. Unless of course I didn't have any other choice.

I think enjoying what you do also plays a huge part: I hear people all the time saying they hate their job, they only work to get paid to do/by things they enjoy . . . I couldn't do that, either.

[Locke]

I think they're both hard in their own ways. I enjoyed labour work that I did to work my way through University, going home with a sore body after a hard days' work was, in its way, quite gratifying.

The beer afterwards just tasted better.

Now, working in an office, I often go home with a headache after staring at a screen all day.

They're fulfilling in other ways, but when I worked labour I didnt have to spend an hour a day in the gym.

[GoinAllTheWay]

Agree when people say both are hard in their respective ways.

There are days I'm driving to work and see people working outside and think I would be perfectly ok with sweeping parking lots instead of sitting at my desk all day. Then the days that are rainy or a million degrees below freezing I'm happy to be inside.

It's alll perspective.

[Northendzone]

before i answer, what category is pimpin' in - cause all i know is that it ain't easy

[Puppet Guy]

I'd come home from labour-type jobs physically tired and reasonably calm; I come home from the office-type jobs mentally tired and cranky. I'd rather be spent physically than mentally.

[Delthefunky]

I just woke up from a 30 minute nap.. Is it 4:30 yet?

[Coach]

Yeah I've worked both (currently at the desk job) and there are days that I miss the landscaping, even though it was by far the worst job I've ever had. but that was a managment problem more than a labour problem.

Especially on days like today when I look outside and realized I've spent most of some of the best days of the summer indoors cruising CP lol.

[Bigtime]

I'm mainly a desk jockey now, but a few times during the week I'll go out back and get my hands dirty working in the warehouse and yard. Remembering what it is like to drive a forklift and load up customers. It is incredibly refreshing.

[Phanuthier]

Both hard in their own ways. The most gratifying jobs I've had were blue collar... but I can see it being tiring after more than 4 months. Office jobs make me feel like a couch potato. Ideally, I'd like a job where I'm using something other than a computer in my cube farm. I kind of do a litle bit of work in the lab for my job (rather then in my cube), I imagine as I get more responsibilities I get a chance to do that more.

[Rathji]

I have worked a wide variety of jobs and am currently working in my first 'desk job'. Let me tell you that there is no way even the most stressful job can be harder than some of the stuff I have done.

In no particular order:

- Hacking Apart Dead Cows
- Shoveling and hauling gravel uphill
- Crawling around underneath old mobile homes while carrying 4 foot lengths of rough cut oak
- Sitting in a non-air conditioned bobcat with only a single tiny rear window to bring in air (and exhaust!) in 25 degree weather.