work‧force /ˈwɜːkfɔːs $ ˈwɜːrkfɔːrs/ noun [singular]
all the people who work in a particular industry or company, or are available to work in a particular country or area ⇒ staff:
Women now represent almost 50% of the workforce.
The company is cutting its workforce.
skilled/educated/flexible etc workforce

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

workforce
noun
ADJ. educated, qualified, skilled, trained a highly-skilled workforce
flexible, versatile | committed, dedicated, motivated | local A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.
ageing, declining, diminishing A declining workforce has to provide for an increasing number of retired people.
available, total The shipyard has a total workforce of 9,000.
entire, whole The new management decided to retrain the entire workforce.
worldwide | large, small | reduced | 2,000-strong, 3,500, etc. | temporary | British, Japanese, etc. | female, male | industrial, manufacturing
VERB + WORKFORCE employ, have The company employs a workforce of nearly 5,000.
cut, halve, reduce, slash, slim (down), trim | double, expand, increase | retrain, train | consult (with) The management always consults with the workforce before introducing major changes.
enter, leave The increase in the number of people entering the workforce has increased unemployment figures.
WORKFORCE + VERB fall | double, increase, rise | number sth, stand at sth The workforce numbers 500.
PREP. among a/the ~ There is a change in the distribution of skills among the workforce.
in a/the ~ One person in the workforce is always responsible for the same job.
PHRASES a member of the workforce

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

worker someone who does a particular type of job, or someone who works for an organization but is not a manager:
a post-office worker
The workers are threatening to go on strike.
The report shows that male manual workers earn twice as much as female workers.
employee someone who has a job, especially a permanent job, with a particular company or organization:
Employees of the airline get generous reductions on the cost of flights.
member of staff/staff member one of the people who work for a company, organization, school etc - used especially in official contexts:
Training opportunities are available to all members of staff.
Several staff members complained about his increasing strange behaviour.
colleague (also coworker especially American English) someone you work with – use this especially about people who do professional jobs in offices, schools etc:
I’d like you to meet a colleague of mine, Jean-Michel Blanc.
What should you do if a co-worker is injured?
workforce all the people that work in a country, industry, or large organization:
Women make up 41% of the workforce.
staff all the people who work in a company, organization, school etc:
The staff were clearly worried about rumours of job losses.
sales staff

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲