staff
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staff
The totality of people employed in a company, government office, or organization; the workforce or employees.
Das Personal des Hotels war außerordentlich freundlich und zuvorkommend.
The hotel staff was extraordinarily friendly and accommodating.
'Personal' (staff) is a collective noun and is always used with a verb in the singular, even when it refers to many people. This is a common mistake among learners.
Das Personal ist sehr gut geschult.
The staff is very well trained.
The word 'Personal' (staff) is the basis for many useful compounds in a professional context, such as 'Personalabteilung' (HR department), 'Personalmangel' (staff shortage), or 'Personalausweis' (identity card).
Bei Personalmangel müssen die verbleibenden Mitarbeiter mehr arbeiten.
When there is a staff shortage, the remaining employees have to work more.
Common verbs used with 'Personal' (staff) are 'Personal einstellen' (to hire staff), 'Personal suchen' (to look for staff), or 'Personal schulen' (to train staff). Typical adjectives are 'qualifiziertes' (qualified), 'freundliches' (friendly), or 'medizinisches' (medical) staff.
Die Firma sucht dringend qualifiziertes Personal.
The company is urgently looking for qualified staff.
employee
'der Mitarbeiter' and 'das Personal' both belong to the area of work in an organization. 'Mitarbeiter' means one individual person, or several individual people, who work there. 'Personal' means the whole group of employed people, that is, the staff or workforce. The words can be confused because 'Personal' often simply means 'all employees'. If you are talking about a specific person, 'Mitarbeiter' is more natural. If you are talking about all employees or about having enough people for a service or shift, 'Personal' fits better.
Im Krankenhaus braucht das Personal heute besonders viel Ruhe und Zeit.
In the hospital, the staff need especially a lot of calm and time today.
Ein Mitarbeiter aus der Technik kommt gleich und prüft den Drucker.
An employee from technical support will come shortly and check the printer.