Blue Collar Research Articles

Physical and psychosocial work environmental risk factors of low-back pain: protocol for a 1 year prospective cohort study

BackgroundMusculoskeletal disorders, and in particular low-back pain (LBP), are common among blue collar workers. In the work environment, both physical- and psychosocial risk factors exist. Working in warehouses in Denmark involve large quantities of occupational lifting, high work pace and a low degree of influence at work. This study investigates both acute and long-term associations between physical- and psychosocial work environmental factors and risk of LBP in warehouse workers. The specific study aims are to investigate 1) exposure-response associations between quantity of occupational lifting and short-term (day-to-day) changes in LBP, 2) the influence of accumulated workdays and rest days during a working week on LBP, 3) long-term association between occupational lifting exposure and LBP when assessed over 1 year, and 4) the role of psychological and social factors on the above associations.MethodsThe present study is designed as a 1-year prospective cohort study that will examine full-time warehouse workers from up to five retail chains in Denmark. Study aims 1 and 2 will be addressed using objective data based on company records with information on weight of all the goods handled by each warehouse worker during every single workday for 3 weeks. During this period, each worker will reply to text messages received before and after every workday (also on days off work) in which study participants will score their pain in the low back, bodily fatigue and perceived mental stress (scale 0–10). Long-term pain development is assessed using questionnaire surveys before and after 1 year. Further, pressure pain threshold (PPT) will be measured for selected trunk extensor muscles in approximately 50 workers using algometry along with measurements of maximal trunk extensor strength. Associations are modelled using linear mixed models with repeated measures between variables and LBP controlled for relevant confounders.DiscussionThis study provides knowledge about the acute and long-term associations between physical- and psychosocial work environmental factors and LBP. The obtained data will have the potential to provide recommendations on improved design of the working week to minimize the risk of LBP among warehouse workers, and may potentially enable to identify a reasonable maximum lifting threshold per day (ton lifted/day).

Developing a Health-Promotion Program Based on the Action Research Paradigm to Reduce Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors among Blue Collar Workers.

This study developed and evaluated a health management program based on the participant-centered concept of action research to reduce cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among blue collar workers. Data from structured questionnaires completed by 32 workers in a small-to-medium sized workplace from September 2015 to October 2016 as well as participants’ anthropometrical (weight and waist) and biological (blood pressure, glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol) data were analyzed using paired t-test and Fisher’s exact test. To examine the longitudinal effect of the intervention, survival analysis and linear mixed model (LMM) were used. There was an improvement in participants’ self-regulation in maintaining health-promoting behaviors, body weight, blood pressure, and HDL cholesterol following the intervention. Furthermore, the effects of the health management program continued even after the program ended. These findings suggest that the health management program developed in this study could be effective in reducing CVD risk factors among workers in small-to-medium sized workplaces and should be applied to other small-to-medium sized workplaces to foster health-promoting behaviors.

Prevalence, determinants and association of unawareness of diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia with poor disease control in a multi-ethnic Asian population without cardiovascular disease

BackgroundTo explore the prevalence and determinants of unawareness of diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia and its association with poor disease control in a multi-ethnic Asian population without cardiovascular disease (CVD).MethodsWe included 6904 Chinese, Malay and Indian individuals (mean age [SD] 58.2 [10.2] years; 52.6% female) with diabetes, hypertension and/or hypercholesterolemia from the cross-sectional population-based Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases study (2004–2011). Diabetes was defined as random blood glucose ≥ 11.1 mmol/L or HbA1c > 6.5% or self-reported use of diabetes medication; hypertension as systolic blood pressure ≥ 140 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure ≥ 90 mmHg or self-reported use of anti-hypertensive treatment; and hypercholesterolemia as total cholesterol ≥ 6.2 mmol/L or self-reported use of lipid-lowering medications. Unawareness was based on participants’ answers to the questions: “Did your medical practitioner ever tell you that you have diabetes/hypertension/high cholesterol?” The determinants of unawareness, and its association with poor disease control, were assessed using multivariable binary logistic regression models adjusted for known potential confounders.ResultsOf the 2380 (34.5%), 5386 (78.0%) and 3607 (52.2%) with diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, respectively, unawareness rates were 30.7%, 43.1% and 40.9%, respectively. Having a higher BMI, particularly if obese, and Malay ethnicity were associated with greater unawareness of diabetes; Malay and Indian ethnicities and current smoking with greater unawareness of hypertension; and education ≤6 years, current smoking, and blue collar jobs or unemployment with greater unawareness of hypercholesterolemia (all P < 0.05). Lack of awareness of each condition was independently associated with poorer disease control in the case of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, while the converse was true for diabetes (all P < 0.05).ConclusionsUnawareness of diabetes, hypertension, or hypercholesterolemia is high in Singapore, with risk factors varying across all three diseases, although Malay ethnicity is a consistent one. Unawareness was also associated with poor management for hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. Public health education and screening programs should target at-risk individuals, especially Malays, to reduce the likelihood of incident CVD.

Inferno Combative Robot with Blue Collar

In this article, the reader will learn about the' Safety&amp; Ergonomics' framework. Human negligence is still one of the most common causes of ecological disasters and catastrophes. The context is that the monitoring systems only reflect on the condition of processes in which a human connection to the overall functioning of the system is left unattended. As the fields of robotics and automation are more advanced, a human control operator becomes a passive machine observer, leading to exhaustion and lack of attention. It is necessary but hazardous to take up the fight against flames. A firefighter must be able to extinguish the fire quickly and safely to prevent further damage and minimize death. Engineering has finally connected the opening between firefighting and equipment to make the firefighting process more effective and useful. Robots are built to cross the fire area, so that they can operate one day with fire-fighters, minimizing dramatically the risk of damage to victims and protecting rescue workers, before they rage out of the way. This project involves the design of a fire-fixing robot. This paper deals with the software interface, the interface between the device and various parts of the technology.

TRAINING AT WORK: THE IMPACT OF INTERNALIZED AGEISM

It is well documented that seniors receive less work based training than younger counterparts. Studies have assessed the extent to which managers afford access to training because of stereotypes about older workers being less trainable or interested in training. Less is known about the degree to which individuals have internalised age stereotypes and self-stereotype which impacts their attitudes about training. In this work place based study, through analysis of interviews with older workers we examine the extent to which internalised ageism is an inhibitor for seeking further training. We examine the role of gender and work setting. The data includes 185 participants in five different UK organisations in blue collar, white collar, managerial, manufacturing and services sectors. There is some evidence that older workers may feel that they are less deserving and less capable of training and development with implications for policy in this field.

GENDERED AGEISM: OLDER WORKERS’ NARRATIVES ABOUT AGE

Existing research has highlighted that ageism in the workplace may take gendered forms with women ‘never being the right age’ (Duncan & Loretto, 2004). It is further known that individuals have internalised age stereotypes and self-stereotype when being older themselves, also referred to as stereotype embodiment. In this work place based study, through analysis of older workers talk, we examine the extent to which narratives of age differ by gender and work setting. The data base includes 185 participants in five different work settings and different kinds of jobs: blue collar, white collar, managerial, manufacturing and services sectors. Whilst many of the fears about ‘being old’ at work are common across women and men there are some distinct nuances related to the kind of work that people do and others that we argue are gender based.

Influence of Patients' Profession on Therapeutical Outcome of Patients with Primary Extrinsic Shoulder Impingement

Shoulder complaints are an important reason for inability to work. There are few considerations that link the effect of kind of therapy with ability to work in connection with kind of employment. This prospective, comparative clinical follow-up study examines the influence of occupational activity with conservative and operative therapy on the outcome of therapy in terms of function, pain and ability to work. In this study, 97 patients (women: n=22, men: n=75, mean age: 43.1±10.1 years) with a primary extrinsic shoulder impingement syndrome were included. Patients were divided into blue and white collar workers. Further on the subgroups of conservative and operative therapy were considered. Either a sole conservative therapy or an operative therapy with physiotherapeutic follow-up treatment took place. The conservative therapy was carried out as a structured re-coordination of muscles of the shoulder girdle under supervision of a physiotherapist. In the surgical cohorts an arthroscopic subacromial decompression was performed. Follow-up examinations were passed 3, 6 and 12 months after starting the intervention. Function (Constant Score), pain (NRS) and the duration of inability to work were assessed. The statistical analysis was performed using mixed-design ANOVA to calculate main effect and interactions (therapy*kind of employment*time) adjusted with age, sex and body mass index. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of function and pain between blue and white collar workers. Office workers showed a significantly longer inability to work 3 months after surgical treatment compared with conservative treatment (7.3±0.8 weeks vs. 0.5±7.3 weeks; p<0.001). Further the group of white collars with operative therapy was significantly longer inable to work than the group of blue collar workers after operative therapy 3 months after surgical treatment (3.0±1.1 weeks vs. 7.3±0.8 weeks; p=0.002). On the one hand, working in an office could be seen as a negative predictor for durance of inability to work. On the other hand, surgical treatment itself was a negative predictor for the durance of inability to work. Furthermore, no difference between conservative and surgical therapy could be observed in function and pain one year after starting the treatment.

Information potential of advertising messages of blue collar workers on the Internet

У статті наводяться результати дослідження процесу рекламування робочих професій в Інтернеті. Особливу увагу приділено аналізу інформаційного потенціалу інтернет-повідомлень, які виступають засобами залучення молоді до робочих професій. Досліджено ефективність інформаційних повідомлень щодо робочих професій в Інтернеті, виявлено особливості сучасних рекламних практик Результати дослідження свідчать про активне використання Інтернету під час вибору молоддю міста Києва робочих професій. Інтернет залишається для молоді провідним джерелом інформації. Визначено, що рівень повноти інформаційних інтернет-повідомлень, розміщених на сайтах освітніх закладів і на сайтах працевлаштування, залишається посереднім, що вказує на недостатнє усвідомлення важливості даного способу рекламування суб’єктами інформації. У процесі дослідження виокремлено й оцінено чинники, що впливають на вибір майбутньої робочої професії. На думку респондентів, найбільш суттєвими з них виявилися такі: рівень заробітної плати, можливість професійного розвитку, можливість самореалізації, можливість кар’єрного зростання, відповідність професії рівню знань і вмінь, затребуваність професії за кордном. У результаті статистичного аналізу зафіксовано невідповідність пропозицій роботодавців і очікувань молодих працівників, які шукають роботу. Виявлено, що реклама працевлаштування за кордоном сприяє негативній тенденції на ринку праці, значним втратам молодих фахівців, підготовлених коштом професійно-технічних закладів освіти України. Низька ефективність інформаційних повідомлень в Інтернеті спричинена зосередженням на текстовій рекламі, небажанням рекламодавців застосовувати нові, привабливі для молоді інформаційні технології, види та форми рекламних повідомлень; відсутністю уваги до суджень споживачів щодо елементів ефективної реклами (оригінальність, яскравість, зміст, дизайн тощо). Отримані результати можуть бути використані у створенні сучасних методик ефективної інтернет-реклами робочих професій, посилення її позицій в Інтернеті.

Changing criteria of access to gamete donation: the views of donors and recipients

Abstract Background Differences on the use of sexual orientation and marital status as criteria to define access to gamete donation persist in Europe, contributing to the search of cross border reproductive care (CBRC). The lack of international policy and norms on CBRC highlight the need for surveillance to ensure quality and equitable access to reproductive care, namely by assessing donors’ and recipients’ views. This study aims to analyze the opinion of donors and recipients about the use of marital status and sexual orientation as priority criteria for accessing gamete donation, and its associated factors. Methods Between July 2017 and June 2018, 72 donors and 171 recipients completed a self-report questionnaire at the Portuguese Public Bank of Gametes. Opinion about the use of marital status and sexual orientation as priority criteria was assessed through a 5-point Likert scale of agreement, ranging from “totally disagree” to “totally agree”. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were used. Results Most participants disagreed with a priority of access to gamete donation for heterosexual couples (61%) and married women (60%). Participants who agreed with priority to heterosexual couples were more likely to be males (OR = 2.5, CI95% 1.2-5.3) and married or living with a partner (OR = 3.5, CI95% 1.1-10.8). Males (OR = 3.18, CI95% 1.5-6.9) and those with lower white collar (OR = 3.0, CI95% 1.2-7.4) or blue collar occupations (OR = 4.3, CI95% 1.4-13.1) were more likely to agree with priority for married women. Conclusions Donors and recipients agree with equitable access to gamete donation, independently of sexual orientation and marital status. However, a heterosexual marriage hierarchy is particularly observed on male, married/living with a partner, and with lower white or blue collar occupations participants. Policy on reproductive care needs to be especially mindful of equity in access to gamete donation. Key messages Donors and recipients agree with access to gamete donation independent of sexual orientation and marital status. Policy on reproductive care needs to be mindful of equity in access to gamete donation.

Neighborhood disparities in stroke and socioeconomic, urban-rural factors using stroke registry

Abstract Introduction Despite major improvements in management over recent decades, stroke remains a devastating disease in Europe and geographic disparities persist. Determining the spatial distribution of stroke may be useful for both epidemiological research and health services planning. The aim of this study was to estimate stroke incidence rates in Pays de Brest (Western France) and to explore the presence of geographic clusters associated with socioeconomic and urban-rural characteristics. Methods The study included incidence stroke cases aged 60 years and more from the Stroke Brest registry for the period 2008 to 2013 aggregated at the census block level. Poisson and negative binomial regression models were used to explore determinants of disease risk. Geographically weighted regression (GWR) was used to allow estimation of local regression coefficients. Results Between 2008 and 2013, 3088 cases aged 60 years were identified in Pays de Brest. The incidence of stroke was 6.67 per 1 000 inhabitants. Living in a rural neighborhood with a higher level of blue collar and of farmer was associated with higher age adjusted stroke incidence rate ratio (IRR) 1.23, [95%CI 1.09-1.39]. Higher risk was also found in a city center neighborhood with a higher level of blue [IRR 1.22, 95%CI 1.04-1.49]. Local Poisson GWR models achieved the best fit and suggested evidence of spatially varying regression coefficients and clusters of higher incidence. Conclusions Our study contributes to a better understanding of the relationship between stroke risks and contextual characteristics such as socioeconomic circumstances and urban rural setting. This will help targeting areas for specific public health prevention. Key messages Variations of stroke were marked according to socioeconomic and urban-rural setting of the living area. This study will help targeting areas for specific public health prevention.

The Intention to Paid and/or Unpaid Activities in Retirement. A Study of Older Workers in Germany

ABSTRACT Within the controversial active aging discourse in Germany, this article discusses if older people are willing to be active in retirement and which factors explain this phenomenon. Empirical analyses are based on the German representative survey “Transitions and Old Age Potentials” with an analytic sample of 1,313 blue and white collar workers born between 1946 and 1958. Results imply that intended unpaid post-retirement activities are a high priority in older adulthood. Furthermore, retirement planning shows the strongest association between paid and unpaid activities. Aside from actual retirement behavior, this study underlines the relevance of intended post-retirement work as an important facet in the active aging discourse.

Aadhaar-Led Identification and Datafication Among Informal Workers in South India: &lt;i&gt;A Data-Justice Perspective&lt;/i&gt;

Aadhaar – India’s national biometric digital identity programme through its unique 12-digit number for every Indian resident – has been intricately linked to daily aspects of living in recent years. The programme aims to enable digital linkage to governmental and non-governmental services and through that achieve digital financial inclusion of groups like unbanked informal workers into the mainstream economy. This paper focuses on the Aadhaar experiences of two groups of informal workers in an Indian urban setting – cab-drivers and domestic workers. These informal workers access digital platforms like online recruitment portals and gig-economy apps which are aimed at employment of urban ‘blue collar’ workers, using Aadhaar as an identity for verification through its complex technological ecosystem. Based on this evidence base, the paper provides two contributions. First, it presents a novel theoretical lens of social justice by operationalising ‘abnormal justice’ in a way that is synergistic with elements of surveillance and datafication inherent to digital identification. This results in a framework of data justice, enabling analysis along cultural, economic and political dimensions. Second, using this framework the paper deconstructs empirical evidence collected using semi-structured interviews and field observations. Ultimately it argues that while Aadhaar identity and the data-flow it enables has become critical in enabling digital participation of informal workers, digital identity is intimately related to inequality experienced by urban marginalised groups in three ways: current use of digital identities reifies extant cultural inequalities experienced by marginalised workers; unprotected datafication creates new economic inequalities that exploit new-found digital participation enabled by digital identities; and unfair barriers continue to exist for the marginalised under digital identity to voice ‘informed consent’ or to access redressal of security issues.

The economic benefits of volunteering and social class

A theory that the economic benefits of volunteering are contingent on social class (as defined by similarities in labour market situation) is tested using seven waves of longitudinal data from the British Household Panel Study gathered between 1996 and 2008 and fixed-effects models. Volunteering has a positive effect on earnings, but it is confined to people in professional and managerial occupations. Employees in white and blue collar jobs do not benefit. The study suggests that inconsistent results from previous studies might be due to failure to consider occupational heterogeneity among volunteers.

Amenity Migration Revisited

AbstractThe dismantling of government research throughout rural North America has altered the ways environmental scientists understand their ties to rural places like northwest British Columbia. As growing numbers of researchers have leveraged their professional mobility to move to small mountain towns and other rural locales—a process known as “amenity migration”—many have increasingly described their role in these transformations through idioms of personal commitment and individual expertise. At times, these articulations have overshadowed other migratory strategies enacted in response to the neoliberalization of resource extraction and environmental governance in the region, including those of First Nations technicians and blue collar workers in extractive industries. The kinds of jobs that draw experts to live and work in places like northwest British Columbia have shifted away from full‐time government positions into consulting and contract work. In the process, researchers’ growing tendency to present their movements as intentional processes has obscured the ways neoliberal reform redistributes compulsion and choice among residents of the new rural north.

The Impact of Work-Family Conflict on Hedonic Consumption: A Survey on Industrial Workers

Purpose – Work and family make up a large part of the lives of individuals and every individual has a role in social life as much as the number of groups he/she belongs to. It has become more important than ever for individuals to balance their work and family life so that they can fulfill all the responsibilities of their job and family roles. Especially in recent years, the fact that many women have started working and more families have double income has changed their job and family roles. The first consequence of not being able to balance work and family responsibilities is the dilemma between these two roles. The roles that people play in business and family life shape their lifestyles and also their needs and demands. Therefore, the conflict arising from the lack of stabilize between work and family tasks also affects the social lives of individuals and consequently the habits of consumption changes. As it is known, consumption in modern societies is not only aimed at meet the physiological and basic needs but also brings a lifestyle dedicated to the quest for pleasure. The Hedonic Consumption that emerges at this stage is a form of consumption that tends to act with emotions rather than sensations where it is not possible to be satisfied with desires and fantasies and to which the desire is continuous. In this study, the concept of business family conflict is handled with its reflections in modern consumption societies and the relation of this conflict with the consumption and hedonic consumption habits depending on the effect of this conflict on the roles of individuals. Design/methodology/approach – For this purpose, a survey was conducted with 412 blue and white collar workers who were actively working in factories operating in the Organized Industrial Zone of Bilecik and Bayburt Province in July-August 2019 and 390 evaluable questionnaires were obtained. In the light of the findings, it was tried to put forward the influence of work family and family work discord and hedonic consumption habits of the workers. Findings – According to the study findings, work-family conflict has no effect on social shopping, adventurous shopping and shopping to make others happy dimensions, while it has a negative effect on shopping for relaxation, shopping to get ideas and shopping for value dimensions. On the other hand, family-work conflict has a positive effect on all dimensions of hedonic consumption except the adventurous shopping dimension. The strongest effect is on shopping for relaxation dimension. Discussion – The WFC independent variable has no effect on hedonic consumption. However, the other independent variable FWC has an effect. In order to see whether the findings in the present study are supported or not, it is recommended that researchers conduct new studies using different research methods and different research areas (universe and sample).

The Reality and the Effect on Organizational Commitment of Myanmar Workers’ Consciousness: A Case of Blue Collar Worker in Manufacturing Industry

The Reality and the Effect on Organizational Commitment of Myanmar Workers’ Consciousness: A Case of Blue Collar Worker in Manufacturing Industry

Labor market trends and tendencies in Hungarian public sector in light of an empirical research

Employee turnover is a current challenge of human resource management in organizations. Staff turnover is regarded as a key performance indicator for Human Resources departments, and a serious rise in its level points to events, issues or problems which may severely hamper the successful and efficient operation of any organization. Hence, in such cases immediate measures should be taken to curtail turnover. The paper reviews briefly current trends of labor market and specific HRM challenges of public services. In this study an empirical research is also introduced. Employees with adequate professional experience represent outstanding value for operational efficiency, a turnover index compiled by on a sectoral basis, highlights the fact that turnover is highest among blue collar workers in the private sector. Surprisingly, within the same group in the public sector turnover is typically low. At the same time, however, our 2017 results show that astonishingly high levels of turnover (even 40%) may also occur in public sector organizations. Public sector in Hungary has provided life long employment but the new labor regulation and labor shortages have drastic changed the particular traits.

VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE IN SOVIET LITHUANIA IN 1958–1984: STRUCTURAL, THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION

Vocational guidance in the Soviet system of education was considered a high priority of institutional socialisation. Industrialisation and technical modernisation dictated and regulated changes in perception of labour training and vocational guidance and encouraged to promote economically required and favourable occupations in the public discourse. However, in reality, the attempt of the educational staff to direct pupils to vocational education facilities did not correspond with the expectations of parents and children regarding their future. Moreover, children’s choices for future occupations were far from accompanying socialist slogans. In order to reveal this complex phenomenon, the article analyses the systematic, theoretical, and practical implementations of vocational guidance in the educational environment of Soviet Lithuania. The research revealed that educational framework for vocational guidance in Soviet Lithuania was receptive to the changes introduced by educational reforms throughout the Soviet nion. It reflected the government’s economic, technical, and agricultural modernization as well as the increasing necessity of specialized manpower and blue–collar workers. The 1970s was the turning point for vocational guidance infrastructure in Lithuania – a huge institutional development took place. Moreover, state administration sectors responsible for economic welfare imposed their considerable influence on the educational system. The modernisation of the educational discourse in Soviet Lithuania in the 1960s–1970s changed the perception of vocational training in the educational system. Labour ducation and vocational guidance became the focus of the Soviet educational discourse and offered a child–oriented vocational guidance framework, which was based on the knowledge of the child, motivational, and interest related education. However, this sophisticated approach was used to manipulate children and to ensure adequate supply of professionals for various key industries, alongside with the implementation of ideological tasks. The actual practices of labour education and professional choices among children were influenced by family values, teachers’ approaches, and different socioeconomic conditions that surrounded children in the rural and urban environment. Due to the agricultural structure and collectivization in rural areas, children there were used to physical work. Therefore, their labour education included helping collective farm workers and their own parents during harvest periods. Meanwhile faster modernisation of urban educational spaces and more advanced technical possibilities determined that labour education of children from urban areas was less intense in terms of physical work. The development of the infrastructure of post-school activities in urban areas allowed children to get acquainted with different professions and activities. These circumstances were crucial when making a decision for future professional choices. Children’s future occupational decisions were also influenced by the concept of “prestige profession” (lawyer, doctor, engineer etc.) that circulated among parents and children during our research period. This concept was exceptionally strong among cultural and political elite families; therefore, their children most frequently went for higher education. Meanwhile childhood in rural areas based on physical work, determined the urge to escape these difficult conditions. nsequently, these pupils were considering non–manual occupations. However, their strong urge to help the family sometimes left them in an ambivalent position and their work choices were made in favour of the family. These contradictory practises led to the emergence of “vocational misguidance” when only unapt, ill-behaved or ideologically upstart pupils were guided to vocational training institutions.

William “Ed” Kois: whistleblower who exposed substandard care at a US veterans hospital

Peter Biello/New Hampshire Public Radio A specialist in rehabilitation and pain management, William “Ed” Kois was not your typical doctor. He swore a lot,1 he wore a goatee and muttonchop...

New imported inputs, wages and worker mobility

Abstract We study how firms and industries adjust to increasing international trade in intermediate inputs. In particular, we provide a comprehensive assessment of the effects of new imported inputs on wage dynamics, on the skill-composition of the labor force, on worker mobility, and on assortative matching between firms and workers. We employ matched employer-employee data for Italy, over 1995–2007. We complement these data with information on the arrival of new imported inputs at the industry level. We find new imported inputs to have a positive effect on average wage growth at the firm level. This effect is driven by two factors: (1) an increase in the white-collar/blue-collar ratio; and (2) an increase in the average wage growth of blue-collar workers, while the wage growth of white collars is not significantly affected. The individual-level analysis reveals that the increase in the average wage of blue collars is driven by the displacement of the lowest paid workers, while continuously employed individuals are not affected. We estimate the unobserved skills of workers. We find evidence that new imported inputs lead to a positive selection of higher-skilled workers, and to an increase in the degree of positive assortative matching between firms and workers.