workforce

noun

work·​force ˈwərk-ˌfȯrs 

1

: the workers engaged in a specific activity or enterprise

the factory's workforce

2

: the number of workers potentially assignable for any purpose

the nation's workforce

Synonyms

• staff
• manpower
• personnel
• pool

Examples of workforce in a Sentence

We have a workforce of 2,400 people.

the office's entire workforce is devoted to a single project right now

Recent Examples on the Web

Brown University agreed to spend $50 million over ten years on workforce training in its home state of Rhode Island as part of a settlement. —Liam Knox, Fortune, 14 Sep. 2025

As the researchers discovered, Iberian harvester queens’ eggs develop differently depending on whether the queen needs mates to produce future Iberian harvester ant queens, or a hybrid workforce that makes up 99% of the colony. —Ashley Strickland, CNN Money, 13 Sep. 2025

Investment in the energy sector would indirectly benefit men, who make up the majority of the workforce. —Mabinty Quarshie, The Washington Examiner, 13 Sep. 2025

Accounting for these and other factors tells me this could be the best time ever for a robust senior workforce in America. —Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 13 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1931, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for workforce

• concourse
• divorce
• endorse
• enforce
• indorse
• midcourse
• outsource
• perforce
• racecourse
• racehorse
• remorse
• seahorse

Kids Definition

workforce

noun

work·​force ˈwərk-ˌfō(ə)rs 

-ˌfȯ(ə)rs

: the workers of a specific activity or business

the factory's workforce