staff
n. C / Un. the group of people who work for an organization or business. You use this word to talk about everyone from the office workers to the cleaning crew as one team.
n. a collective group of employees or personnel working within an organization. Often functions as a collective noun, taking either a singular or plural verb depending on whether the group is viewed as a single unit or as individuals.
The hotel staff is very friendly and helpful.
The hospital is hiring more medical staff to handle the increase in patients during the winter months.
Senior management met with the teaching staff to discuss the implementation of the new curriculum and address concerns regarding the allocation of classroom resources.
From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic stab, from Proto-Germanic stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav. Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.
When used as a collective noun, it can take a singular verb in American English ('the staff is') or a plural verb in British English ('the staff are').
The company has fifty staffs.The company has fifty staff members.In its professional sense, 'staff' is usually uncountable or collective; to count individuals, use 'staff members' or 'members of staff'.