Meaning & use
direct employment
Last updated
Meanings
noununcountablebusiness
Work done by a company's own paid staff, rather than by workers hired through an agency or contractor.
Grammar: Usually uncountable and used in business writing: the number of people in direct employment.
Patterns
- in direct employment
- direct employment of someone
- create direct employment
The factory provides direct employment for about 400 local people.
The report separates direct employment from jobs created in the supply chain.
Moving to agency staff cut costs but reduced direct employment.
noununcountablebusiness
The act of hiring someone yourself, without a middleman, so that they work for you on your own terms.
Grammar: Often followed by of: the direct employment of graduates.
Patterns
- direct employment of someone
- the direct employment of workers
The law encourages the direct employment of people with disabilities.
Direct employment of freelancers avoids agency fees but adds paperwork.
Common combinations
- provide direct employment
- The new plant will provide direct employment for 250 people.
- direct employment opportunities
- Tourism offers direct employment opportunities in coastal towns.
- in direct employment
- Around 1,200 workers are in direct employment at the site.
- direct employment contract
- Every worker here has a direct employment contract with the company.
Synonyms and how they differ
- in-house employment
- Emphasizes that the work is done inside the company rather than outside it.
- permanent employment
- Focuses on job security; direct employment is about who employs you, not how long the job lasts.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: direct employment or indirect employment?
direct employment vs indirect employment
Indirect employment means jobs created elsewhere because of a company's activity, such as in its suppliers, not jobs on its own payroll.
Practice
Which sentence uses "direct employment" correctly?
Choose one answer.
Direct employment means the company itself employs the workers. Option 1 describes the company's own miners, so it fits. Option 3 is wrong because agency work is not direct employment.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “direct employment”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.