workforce

Everyday

1. A workforce is all the people who work for a company, factory or organisation. tree →
2. The workforce of a country is all the people who are able to work there. tree →

In the lessons

In social studies, business and news: a factory has a workforce of 200; a country's workforce. In maths word problems in formal voice, the workforce is the total number of workers: «a workforce of 240 is split into 8 equal teams». Plain words: the workers, staff.

Examples

• The factory has a workforce of 300 people. tree →
• Half of the workforce works at night. tree →
• A workforce of 240 split into 8 equal teams gives 30 workers per team. tree →
• The company is training its workforce to use new machines. tree →
• Women make up a large part of the workforce. tree →
• The hospital's workforce includes doctors, nurses and cleaners. tree →

Note

Usually singular: «the workforce is» (UK may say «are»). One word: work + force. Similar: staff, employees, labour force. In maths, «a quarter of the workforce» means total ÷ 4.