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:
Greer was one of about 8,800 police officers and staff who had still not been re-vetted, more than a third of the total workforce.
From BBC ● Aug. 28, 2026
The Bay Area’s tech workforce dropped 6% from 2022 to 2025.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
One reason employers are hesitant to hire those who have been out of the workforce for a prolonged period of time is that they believe skills atrophy.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
In May, the company disclosed plans to lay off 17% of its workforce and invest the savings into those bets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
When word passed through the camp that Schindler planned to add thirty Jews to his workforce, I didn't think anything about it.
From "The Boy on the Wooden Box" by Leon Leyson
The caps are forcing some universities to reduce their bloated workforces.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Now artificial intelligence offers the prospect of workforces of digitized “agents” that can roam the world unconstrained by national politics.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
In that proceeding, Verizon pledged to “further California’s public policy goals of diverse supply chains and workforces, including a $10 million partnership with the California State University system,” the PUC said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
Tech giants, by contrast, are cutting their workforces to support higher spending on AI.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
Many companies have reduced their workforces - which is often a tech firm's biggest expense - as they invest in AI.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 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.
