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office staff

office staff

5 1.1
People who work in an office doing jobs like answering phones and filing papers
  • noun
  • /ˈɔfɪs stæf/
translation icon : personal de oficina
  • Each member of the office staff is responsible for managing different administrative tasks.
  • central office staff
  • business office staff
  • front office staff

Examples

  • Starbucks has asked office staff to come in more often.

  • Graduate students are often chosen, and occasionally one of the office staff, including student workers, is available.

    Academic text (1998)
  • Ray sent an update to the office staff.

  • In addition, our office staff is second to none and there to assist our members.

    Academic text (2013)
  • Pay increases have gone to the office staff of lawmakers and House administrative employees.

    Blog text (7)
  • When a child presents to the nurse's office with an ailment, it is imperative that the front office staff addresses the issue immediately.

    Academic text (2013)
  • The people who work there include professors, postdoctoral researchers, software specialists, office staff, graduate and undergraduate students, and volunteers.

    Academic text (1995)
  • John took over, and today he heads the firm with three office staff and the firm's new associate, Heidi J. Gassman.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Clients who already had advance directives or who were identified by the office staff as cognitively impaired were excluded.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The ALCTS office staff, Christine McConnell and Julie Reese, were unfailingly helpful and reassuring while I learned the ropes.

    Academic text (2015)

Synonyms

staff
vsoffice staff
1.0

The people who work for a company, school, or person

refers specifically to employees in indoor administrative or clerical roles
office
vsoffice staff
1.0

The people who work together in the same place for a company

refers to the individual employees working in those roles
personnel
vsoffice staff
559 3.5

The people who work for an organization like a company or the military

focuses on employees who do professional or clerical daily tasks

Antonyms

283 4.1

A person who is not accepted by a group or community

How Large

workforce
249 2.4
office staff
5 1.1

Surface Forms

office staff singular
office staffs plural

Morphology

office + staff

The meaning is directly compositional: 'staff' means employees and 'office' specifies the workplace, so 'office staff' naturally means the employees who work in an office. This noun+noun compound follows a regular, cross-linguistic pattern and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Office staff comes from joining office, the place where people work, and staff, the group of people who help run the business. Picture that group working together inside the office, and that's why it means 'employees' who work in an office.