Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
employee
English answer:
subtle differences and deliberate variations
Added to glossary by
B D Finch
Jun 5, 2012 08:14
11 yrs ago
English term
31 years experience with thanks.
Native in: Japanese (Variant: Standard-Japan) 
Works in: Japanese to English, English to Japanese
employee
Non-PRO
English
Bus/Financial
Other
If you are the president of a company, which one do you want to choose:
employee, staff, or worker?
Thank you.
employee, staff, or worker?
Thank you.
Change log
Jun 10, 2012 07:50: B D Finch Created KOG entry
Responses
+3
1 hr
Selected
subtle differences and deliberate variations
Workers
Not only used for industrial and factory context, e.g. "health service workers", "office workers", "intellectual workers" etc. It is used where the context is more about the activity performed than the fact of being employed or than their being part of the employer's "staff" resource. "Workers" is also used in a political or trade union context to indicate pride in the status of worker, indicating a certain independence.
To quote Albert Einstein: “I consider it important, indeed urgently necessary, for intellectual workers to get together, both to protect their own economic status and, also, generally speaking, to secure their influence in the political field.”
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_consider_it_important-inde...
To the boss, the use of the term "workers" serves as a reminder of difference of interests and the fact that these are people, not just a resource to be used or disposed of; which is probably why bosses prefer to avoid this term in favour of "employees" or "staff".
Employees
The status of being employed is two-edged. To the employee, it denotes security of having a wage or salary (another subtle distinction), the success of having managed to get and keep a job but, at the same time it reminds the employee of their dependent status and the need to watch what they say and do.
To the boss, the term "employees" is a reminder of his/her own power to command, hire and fire and also a potential source of pride in confirming his/her status as a provider of employment.
Staff
This can refer to the higher status employees: a direct borrowing from the term's military use where it refers to higher-ranking officers who directly participate in control of operations. However, it can also be used about the mass of employees operationally available to a company. Thus the manager of a cleaning company referring to his "staff" means the cleaners e.g. "I'll get my staff to clean the toilets." Unlike the term "employees", "staff" includes a sense of being a team who work together, share experiences, support one another, e.g. "a member of staff". A boss using the term "staff" is putting him/herself in the position of a commanding officer with a coordinated and disciplined team of people at his/her disposal.
Not only used for industrial and factory context, e.g. "health service workers", "office workers", "intellectual workers" etc. It is used where the context is more about the activity performed than the fact of being employed or than their being part of the employer's "staff" resource. "Workers" is also used in a political or trade union context to indicate pride in the status of worker, indicating a certain independence.
To quote Albert Einstein: “I consider it important, indeed urgently necessary, for intellectual workers to get together, both to protect their own economic status and, also, generally speaking, to secure their influence in the political field.”
http://thinkexist.com/quotation/i_consider_it_important-inde...
To the boss, the use of the term "workers" serves as a reminder of difference of interests and the fact that these are people, not just a resource to be used or disposed of; which is probably why bosses prefer to avoid this term in favour of "employees" or "staff".
Employees
The status of being employed is two-edged. To the employee, it denotes security of having a wage or salary (another subtle distinction), the success of having managed to get and keep a job but, at the same time it reminds the employee of their dependent status and the need to watch what they say and do.
To the boss, the term "employees" is a reminder of his/her own power to command, hire and fire and also a potential source of pride in confirming his/her status as a provider of employment.
Staff
This can refer to the higher status employees: a direct borrowing from the term's military use where it refers to higher-ranking officers who directly participate in control of operations. However, it can also be used about the mass of employees operationally available to a company. Thus the manager of a cleaning company referring to his "staff" means the cleaners e.g. "I'll get my staff to clean the toilets." Unlike the term "employees", "staff" includes a sense of being a team who work together, share experiences, support one another, e.g. "a member of staff". A boss using the term "staff" is putting him/herself in the position of a commanding officer with a coordinated and disciplined team of people at his/her disposal.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Charles Davis
: A very full and well-nuanced answer
12 mins
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Thanks Charles.
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| agree |
Ashutosh Mitra
1 hr
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Thanks Ashutosh
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| agree |
eski
: Nicely handled: Saludos! eski :))
6 hrs
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Thanks eski. Salut !
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you for your nice explanation.
"
6 mins
management / executive management (technical an employee but might be the owner if it is a small
I don't know if these are the only choices you've been given. Presidents of companies are usually referred to as management.
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Note added at 6 mins (2012-06-05 08:21:28 GMT)
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Sorry, it cut off. Should have been "small company."
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Note added at 17 mins (2012-06-05 08:32:16 GMT)
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Thanks for clarifying what you needed. It depends on the context. "Worker" is used more often in factory contexts; staff can be all-inclusive but it is usually not used to refer to manual workers. "Employee(s)" is the word that best describes all the people who work in a company as it covers all categories.
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Note added at 6 mins (2012-06-05 08:21:28 GMT)
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Sorry, it cut off. Should have been "small company."
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Note added at 17 mins (2012-06-05 08:32:16 GMT)
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Thanks for clarifying what you needed. It depends on the context. "Worker" is used more often in factory contexts; staff can be all-inclusive but it is usually not used to refer to manual workers. "Employee(s)" is the word that best describes all the people who work in a company as it covers all categories.
18 mins
Terry Richards
France
France
Native in English
&
English
France
30 years in IT, Engineering degree.
Native in: English (Variants: British, UK, US) 
Works in: French to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
24
It depends...
All of the terms are quite vague but, in general. staff are middle management or intellectual workers so you would use staff if it was an IT company (for example).
Workers are more manual workers, possible low skilled so you would use this term to perhaps refer to people that work on an assembly line.
Employee covers both terms and would be used if you wanted to refer to all the workers in a factory, both middle management and assembly line workers.
However, as I said, the terms are quite flexible. In particular, workers are often upgraded to staff - it's cheaper than paying them more money!
Workers are more manual workers, possible low skilled so you would use this term to perhaps refer to people that work on an assembly line.
Employee covers both terms and would be used if you wanted to refer to all the workers in a factory, both middle management and assembly line workers.
However, as I said, the terms are quite flexible. In particular, workers are often upgraded to staff - it's cheaper than paying them more money!
1 hr
airmailrpl
Brazil
Brazil
Native in English
&
English
Brazil
Technical - Fast - good price - accurate
Native in: English (Variant: US) , Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian)
Works in: English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
56
member of my staff..my employee
choose when you sayl about your employee? => when your refer to an employee? talk abut an employee => member of my staff..my employee
Discussion