General words for workers and types of worker

someone who works in an organization, especially a political party or large company, but is considered to have no views or beliefs of their own

auxiliary (noun)

a worker who helps more senior or permanent workers

backroom boys (noun)

British people who do important work in a private or secret way

breadwinner (noun)

the person who earns the money to support a family

career woman (noun)

a woman who is more interested in her career than in being married and having children. People who use this word often think this is a bad thing.

charge hand (noun)

British a worker in charge of a group of other workers, but below a foreman in status

citizen (noun)

relating to a member of the public who contributes to an activity such as journalism or science, especially online

commuter (noun)

consisting of commuters, or used by commuters

cowboy (noun)

British someone in business who provides goods or services that are of very bad quality

designated hitter (noun)

Americaninformal someone who does another person’s job temporarily

earner (noun)

someone who earns money by working

employee (noun)

someone who is paid regularly to work for a person or an organization

fill-in (noun)

someone who does another person’s work while they are away

floater (noun)

mainly American someone who does different jobs in a company as needed

freelancer (noun)

someone who is not permanently employed by a particular company, but sells their services to more than one company

the front office (noun)

British the people in a company that deal with members of the public

full-timer (noun)

someone who works or studies full-time

guest worker (noun)

someone who goes to a foreign country to work for a period of time

hack (noun)

a professional person who is only interested in making money

hand (noun)

someone who does physical work

homeworker (noun)

British a person who does paid work at home. People who work from home using a computer and phone can be called telecommuters.

incumbent (noun)

formal someone who has an official position

jack-of-all-trades (noun)

someone who can do many types of work

jockey (noun)

informal someone whose work involves the use of a particular object or machine

journeyman (noun)

old-fashioned a worker who has learned a skill and works for a business that belongs to someone else

junior (noun)

someone whose job is not very important, especially a young person in their first job

knowledge worker (noun)

someone who works for an organization who is valuable to it because of the knowledge and ideas that they have

labourer (noun)

someone whose job involves hard physical work, for example building work

the man for the job ()

the right person to do something

mate (noun)

a junior worker who works with someone who is more experienced

number cruncher (noun)

often humorous someone whose job involves working with numbers. This word often shows that you think this type of work is boring.

occupant (noun)

a person who has a particular job or position

office boy (noun)

a young man who works in an office doing jobs that do not need special skill

office girl (noun)

a young woman who works in an office doing jobs that do not need special skill

office holder (noun)

someone who has an important official position in an organization or in the government

official (noun)

someone with an important position in an organization

outlier (noun)

a person who lives a long way from where they work

overmanning (noun)

a situation in which there are more workers than are needed to do a job or operate a business.

portfolio worker (noun)

someone who has skills and experience in a number of different areas

practitioner (noun)

formal someone who works in a particular profession, especially medicine or law

private secretary (noun)

someone who works as a secretary to an important person in business or government

pro (noun)

informal someone who works in sport, music, or art as a profession, rather than doing it for enjoyment. Pro is a short way of saying professional

probationer (noun)

a probationary worker

rainmaker (noun)

mainly Americaninformal someone who makes a lot of money for a business

relief (noun)

relating to a person or group that temporarily replaces another person or group in their job

returner (noun)

British someone, especially a woman, who starts working again after a long period of time when they have not worked

salaryman (noun)

informal a man in Japan who works in an office and is paid a salary

self-starter (noun)

someone who is intelligent and confident enough to do a job without regular help and advice from other people

semi-professional (noun)

someone who is paid for playing sports, a musical instrument etc but who does not do it as their usual job

sole practitioner (noun)

a professional person such as a lawyer or doctor who works alone and not in a larger practice or organization

staffer (noun)

American a member of the staff of an organization, for example a newspaper

subcontractor (noun)

someone who has a job doing part of the work that another person or company has agreed to do for someone else

substitute (noun)

someone who does someone else’s job temporarily

suit (noun)

informal someone who works in an office and wears a suit, especially a senior manager who you dislike because they think only about the financial aspects of a business

team player (noun)

informal someone who works well with other people as part of a group

telecommuter (noun)

someone who works from home on a computer and sends work to their office over telephone lines by modem or fax

teleworker (noun)

someone who works at home on a computer and communicates with their office or customers by telephone, fax, or email

temp (noun)

a temporary office worker

trainee (noun)

someone who is training for a particular profession or job

volunteer (noun)

someone who is not paid for the work that they do

wage-earner (noun)

someone who receives money for work that they do

wage slave (noun)

informal someone who depends on the money that they earn in their job in order to pay for the things that they need

wallah (noun)

Indian English someone who is responsible for a particular activity or who does a particular job

workman (noun)

a man who does physical work, especially building or repairing things

Synonyms and antonyms of General words for workers and types of worker in British Thesaurus