workforce
Americannoun
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workforces
plural
-
the total number of workers in a specific undertaking.
a holiday for the company's workforce.
-
the total number of people employed or employable.
a sharp increase in the nation's workforce.
noun
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the total number of workers employed by a company on a specific job, project, etc
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the total number of people who could be employed
the country's workforce is growing rapidly
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of workforce
First recorded in 1940–45; work ( def. ) + force ( def. )
Explanation
The term workforce is useful when you talk about a group of people who work or are available to work. You might, for example, talk about the information technology workforce or the workforce in Austin, Texas. When you use the noun workforce, you are always talking about a lot of people, and you're usually referring to everyone in a particular industry or area. Economists often discuss the entire country's workforce, and you've probably heard about the auto industry workforce or the nursing workforce on the news. Workforce can be a singular or plural word, since it's used for a group of many individuals. It's been in use since the early 1960's.
Vocabulary lists containing workforce
The Modern Period, c. 1750 to c. 1914
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"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 8
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Employment, List 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The yard has doubled its workforce to 2,500 over the past two years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
But as an adult in the workforce, she saw the breakouts return and intensify.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
The sport's elite clubs and players have benefited from investment and visibility, yet much of the global workforce remains vulnerable.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
But the workforce today looks different than it did when Social Security was created, Schwabish noted.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
With the Soviet threat as great as it was, our nation could not afford to exclude anyone from the workforce.
From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson
Many governments look more prudent than the U.S. right now, but aging workforces and anemic growth mean debts look scary, even with a lift from AI.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
Some workforces have raised concerns about staff members leaving jobs due to burnout, including midwifery and teaching.
From BBC ● Sep. 1, 2026
The caps are forcing some universities to reduce their bloated workforces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Businesses aren’t hiring lots of people, but they are extremely reluctant to shrink their workforces with sales rising and the economy still expanding.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, Oracle and others have been slashing their global workforces.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
