Labor

From DwarfFortressWiki

A dwarf's labor preferences define the tasks that he or she will do. For instance, a dwarf with the wood cutting labor enabled will cut down trees whenever trees are designated to be cut. Essentially, a dwarf's labor preferences control what he or she can or can not do.

To change a dwarf's labor preferences, view the dwarf, then select preferences and labor.

The mining and wood cutting labors require the dwarf to pick up and wield a pick or battleaxe, respectively. For this reason, a dwarf cannot be assigned to both mining and woodcutting at the same time.

Note that a labor is not a job. A job is the actual task of doing something, while a labor preference is simply whether a dwarf is allowed do the job or not.

Some examples of labors include wood cutting, hauling, fishing and metalsmithing.