workforce

The word “workforce” means all the people employed by a company, industry, or country. In plain terms, the total group of people who work, whether for one employer or across a whole region.

“Workforce” is pronounced WURK-faws (/ˈwɝk.foɹs/ in IPA).

Here is “workforce” used in a sentence: “The company's workforce grew by 20 percent last year.”

Words with a similar meaning to “workforce” include manpower, jobforce, labour force, human resources, liveware and personnel.

“Workforce” is a noun.

“Workforce” is a fairly common word in modern English.

"Workforce" refers to all the people available for or engaged in work, often across a whole company, industry, or country, while "staff" usually means the employees of one particular organisation or department. Workforce tends to be broader in scope.

"Workforce" is a collective noun, singular in form and taking "a" — "a workforce." It can take a singular verb ("the workforce is growing") or, especially in British English, a plural verb when the individual workers are emphasised ("the workforce are unhappy"). Its plural is "workforces."

The two are close and often interchangeable, both meaning the people engaged in or available for work. "Labour force" is common in economics and official statistics, where it usually covers everyone employed or actively seeking work, while "workforce" is used more generally.

"Workforce" is now most commonly written as one word, though the two-word form "work force" is also seen, particularly in older or American texts. The single-word spelling is the standard modern form.