Work & Career

Someone who works independently for various clients rather than being employed by one company.

A trainee, often a student or recent graduate, gaining experience in a workplace, sometimes unpaid.

Someone learning a skilled trade by working alongside an experienced professional.

A person whose job is to find and attract candidates for vacant positions.

A person who oversees the work of others, typically a level below a manager.

An expert hired externally to give professional advice to organisations.

Someone engaged to do work on a contract basis rather than as a permanent employee.

A person employed in the public sector by a government department.

The person whose earnings are the main source of income for a household.

All the people employed by a particular organisation or in a particular sector.

The main offices from which an organisation is controlled.

The building and land occupied by a business; used in formal or official contexts.

A division of an organisation dealing with a specific area of work.

The system of ranking and authority within an organisation.

A workspace without internal walls or partitions separating employees.

A list of items to be discussed at a meeting.

The official written record of what was said and decided at a meeting.

The process of integrating and training a newly hired employee.

An initial trial period during which a new employee's suitability is assessed.

The length of time an employee must continue working after resigning or being dismissed.

Money paid to an employee when their employment is terminated, especially through redundancy.

The situation of losing a job because the position is no longer needed; UK term.

An extra benefit or privilege that comes with a job, beyond the basic pay.

Non-wage compensation such as health insurance, pension contributions and paid leave.

An extra payment added to an employee's wages, often for good performance.

Payment based on a percentage of sales made, common in sales roles.

Time off work that is permitted because of illness.

A period of authorised absence from work granted to a mother before and after childbirth.

An extended period of leave from work, often for study, travel or rest.

A system allowing employees to vary their start and finish times within limits.

The status of holding a permanent, secure post, especially in academia; also length of time in a job.

A formal assessment of an employee's performance, usually held annually.

A state of physical and emotional exhaustion caused by prolonged work stress.

The equilibrium between time spent on work and time spent on personal life.

A standard office job with regular daytime hours; often implies routine or monotony.

A job with no prospects of advancement or improvement.

An invisible barrier preventing certain groups, especially women, from rising to senior positions.

Relating to professional, office-based or managerial work.

Relating to manual or industrial work, typically involving physical labour.

A strong sense of calling or suitability to a particular type of work, often in caring professions.

To find and take on new employees.

To actively approach and recruit someone who is already employed elsewhere, usually for a senior role.

To dismiss employees, usually because there is not enough work, not because of poor performance.

To dismiss an employee because their job is no longer needed; UK term.

To reduce the number of employees in order to cut costs.

To contract work out to an external company rather than doing it in-house.

To assign a task or responsibility to a more junior person.

To select a small group of the best candidates from a larger pool.

To formally inform an employer that one is resigning.

To resign from a senior or leadership position, often voluntarily.

To hire or start employing someone.

To lure an employee away from a competitor by offering better terms.

To advise and support a less experienced colleague over time.

To oversee and be responsible for the work of others.

To watch over and manage a process or project to ensure it is done properly.

To move someone to a lower or less senior position, often as a penalty.

To work a second job, usually in the evenings and often secretly, in addition to one's main job.

To do one's fair share of the work within a team.

To learn how a job or task is properly done.

To make more effort than is expected or required.

To do something in the cheapest or quickest way, often sacrificing quality.

To start a new job or task with great energy and be productive immediately.

To make brief contact with someone to exchange updates; common in office speech.

Overwhelmed with an excessive amount of work.

To advance steadily through the ranks of a company towards more senior positions.

A senior person with managerial authority in an organisation.

Excessive bureaucracy and official rules that slow things down.

To control every small detail of someone's work, usually in an unwelcome way.

American English word for job loss caused by the elimination of a role or a lack of work; the British counterpart in the 'role eliminated' sense is redundancy.

American English spelling for an arrangement letting employees choose their own start and finish times within limits; the British spelling is flexitime.