Meaning & use
staffing levels
Last updated
Meaning
nounplural
The number of employees that a company or organization has, especially in a particular department or at a particular time.
Grammar: Always plural; you can talk about 'staffing levels' as a whole, but not 'a staffing level' in this sense.
Patterns
- staffing levels at something
- staffing levels in something
- maintain staffing levels
- increase staffing levels
The hospital is struggling to maintain safe staffing levels during the night shift.
The company announced that it would reduce staffing levels in its marketing department.
Staffing levels at the new factory are expected to double by next year.
Common combinations
- maintain staffing levels
- We need to maintain staffing levels even during the holiday season.
- reduce staffing levels
- The store had to reduce staffing levels because of falling sales.
- increase staffing levels
- The manager decided to increase staffing levels to handle the extra work.
- adequate staffing levels
- The report found that adequate staffing levels were not being met.
- staffing levels in something
- Staffing levels in the emergency room are always higher on weekends.
Synonyms and how they differ
- headcount
- Headcount is a business term for the total number of employees, often used in reports; staffing levels is more general and can refer to specific departments or shifts.
- manpower
- Manpower means the number of workers available, but it is older-fashioned and often used for physical labor; staffing levels is neutral and modern.
- workforce
- Workforce refers to all the people who work for a company or in a country; staffing levels focuses on the number in a particular area.
Commonly confused: staffing levels or level?
staffing levels vs level
Level alone can mean a position on a scale or a floor of a building; staffing levels specifically refers to the number of employees.
Practice
The company decided to ___ staffing levels to cut costs.
Choose one answer.
Reduce is the correct verb because it means to make something smaller, and it is commonly used with staffing levels. Lower can also mean to make less, but it is less common with staffing levels. Drop and fall are intransitive and would need a different structure.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “staffing levels”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.