Oil rig workers and NASA scientists working on the same project? To make it work, communication needs to be flawless. Sound familiar? The Hollywood classic Armageddon is a perfect example of how differently blue- and white-collar teams can be addressed. But with a fine-tuned internal communication strategy, organizations can achieve incredible results.
The daily working environments of blue- and white-collar employees can be fundamentally different. Office workers spend most of their workday in front of a computer, with constant access to digital tools. Reaching a colleague working out in the field, in a warehouse, or on a production line via email is practically impossible—if they even have an email address at all. However, almost everyone has a mobile phone—meaning they can now be reached through digital internal communication platforms.
Of course, blue-collar workers often work in shifts, which makes it much harder for them to engage in long-form digital communication—especially when they’re serving customers in a store or operating machinery on a construction site.
The Armageddon movie—released before the digital boom—brilliantly showcased just how different the communication styles and preferences of these two employee groups can be. When a company designs its internal communication with these differences in mind, efficiency can skyrocket.
While office employees typically have no trouble reading a longer message or email during work hours, blue-collar workers respond better to short, concise information.
It's also essential to segment communication based on content. White-collar employees may be open to topics like business goals or strategic updates, while blue-collar workers are often more interested in practical matters that directly impact their day-to-day work—like shift schedules or overtime calculations.
The same applies to workplace social communication and engagement programs. It’s worth assessing which topics resonate most with each community. For example, everyone might enjoy a photo contest, but office workers may prefer an escape room team-building event, while blue-collar colleagues might be more engaged at a family barbecue with games.
Beyond the message length, the topics themselves should be tailored to the needs of different employee groups. If employees receive content—whether professional, social, or entertaining—that feels irrelevant or out of touch, their attention may be lost altogether.
The timing of messages can also make or break communication. No matter how personalized a message is in terms of length or topic, if it's sent at the wrong time, it might never really land.
White-collar workers generally have more flexible schedules, although meeting times still need to be considered. For blue-collar workers, the start or end of a shift, post-shift hours, or lunch breaks are ideal times to communicate—these are the windows when they’re most likely to have time to engage with messages, as regular work hours are typically packed.
Mistimed communication can result in lost information. Since the daily rhythms of white- and blue-collar roles are so different, their attention spans are also available at different times.
Internal communication platforms support many content formats. Office employees can read messages on their desktops or laptop during work hours. Blue-collar workers, however, primarily use mobile devices (or sometimes kiosks). So, it makes sense to tailor formats based on the channel through which the message will be delivered.
Even in the age of digital internal communication, don’t forget about traditional formats. Posters can still be highly effective—especially when placed where they’re most likely to be seen. For more complex messages, QR codes can link employees directly to the app. Longer video content isn’t practical for blue-collar workers to watch at kiosks during a shift, while real-time chat tools are generally more effective in white-collar roles.
Communication is most effective when the format matches the nature of the message—and the channel through which it reaches employees.
The oil rig crew arrives at NASA’s training facility, and the clash of styles results in one hilarious and telling scene after another. Enter the world of protocol, science, and formal communication—with a down-to-earth, blunt, and practical attitude.
When designing internal communication, it's often hard to define a specific tone or language in advance—it starts with strategy. But as you move toward smaller tasks, tailoring the style to the audience and message becomes increasingly important.
White-collar workers are generally comfortable with more formal language, while blue-collar colleagues tend to prefer a more direct, concise, and clear tone. Visual elements—from small icons to infographics and videos—not only make content more engaging, but also support better comprehension.
