Meaning & use
workforce
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
All the people who work for a company, organization, or country.
Grammar: Often used with 'the': the workforce is growing.
Patterns
- a large workforce
- the workforce of a company
- join the workforce
The company has a workforce of over 2,000 people.
Half of the workforce works from home.
The factory reduced its workforce last year.
nouncountablebusiness
The total number of workers available in a country or area.
Grammar: Used in economics and news: the workforce is shrinking.
Patterns
- the national workforce
- enter the workforce
- a skilled workforce
More women have entered the workforce in recent decades.
The country needs a skilled workforce to grow.
An aging population is reducing the workforce.
Word forms
| plural | workforces |
|---|
Common combinations
- a large workforce
- The new plant will need a large workforce.
- join the workforce
- She joined the workforce at age 18.
- reduce the workforce
- The firm had to reduce its workforce.
- skilled workforce
- A skilled workforce attracts investment.
- workforce of
- They have a workforce of 500.
Synonyms and how they differ
- staff
- Staff means the employees of one organization; workforce can also mean all workers in a country.
- personnel
- Personnel is a formal word for the people employed by an organization; workforce is more general and common in news.
- labor force
- Labor force is an economics term for people available for work; workforce is used more widely.
Word family
Commonly confused: workforce or work force?
workforce vs work force
The standard spelling is one word: workforce. 'Work force' is sometimes seen but is less common.
Practice
The company announced it would ___ its workforce by 10 percent.
Choose one answer.
After 'would', we use the base verb 'reduce'. 'Reduction' is a noun, and 'reducing' or 'reduced' do not fit after 'would' here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “workforce”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.