职工 (zhí gōng) — staff, workers

Definition

职工 covers all employees of an organization, including both manual and office workers. It is broader than 工人 (factory/manual workers) and slightly more formal than 员工 (employees).

noun
staffworkers
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 职工。
    Gōng sī xīn zhāo le sān gè zhí gōng.
    The company hired three new staff.
  • 职工。
    Lǎo zhí gōng de jīng yàn hěn fēng fù.
    Senior staff have rich experience.
  • 职工。
    Suǒ yǒu zhí gōng dōu cān jiā le ān quán péi xùn.
    All staff participated in safety training.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
联合liánhéSide by side

Two parts of equal weight, alike or opposite in meaning, standing side by side.

职zhístaff
工gōngworker

职 refers to staff or official duties, and 工 to workers, naming all staff and workers.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 職; 职 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
耳耳ěrear
Sound part声符shēngfú
戠
戠zhí職zhí
Same sound today

The traditional form 職 pairs 耳 (ear) with 戠, which gives its sound; the simplified 职 is a shorthand, so its parts are not the historical parts.

Open 职 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 工 is a picture of a bladed tool used to plow ground or mark a border; some read it as a carpenter's square.

Open 工 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 5Professions & JobsWorkplace & Office

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