Staff or staff members?

English as a Second Language What do you want to talk about?
1

All three staff CNA spoke to, two of whom are cabin crew and one from SIA headquarters, said that their salaries plunged by about 50 per cent after their work hours were reduced since April.

  1. Should it be “staff members” instead?
  2. Should it be “had been reduced since April” instead?

Thanks!

3 Likes
2

I would prefer all three staff members.

3 Likes
3

Of course, you could also say: “All three members of staff…”

3 Likes
4

E.g.: All three staff members were involved in the incident/ All three members of staff were involved in the incident.
To shed more light onto this, may I ask, do you mean Chines News Analysis with CNA?

2 Likes
5

CNA refers to Channel News Asia.

3 Likes
6

Hi Kohyoongliat,

Thank you for the information.
I would say: “had been reduced”, because of “since”.

3 Likes
7

Hi Koyoongliat, but I would rephrase your sentences as follows.

CNA spoke to all three staff members, two of whom are cabin crew and one from SIA headquarters, who said that their salaries plunged by about 50 per cent after their work had been reduced since April.

3 Likes
8

This grammar note from the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary might be helpful.

staff

  • In British English staff (sense 1) can be singular: a staff of ten (= a group of ten people) or plural: I have ten staff working for me . If it is the subject of a verb, this verb is plural: The staff in this shop are very helpful .
  • In North American English staff (senses 1 and 2) can only be singular: a staff of ten (but not ten staff ) The staff in this store is very helpful .
  • The plural form staffs is less frequent but is used in both British English and North American English to refer to more than one group of people: the senator and his staff (singular) * senators and their staffs (plural).
    (Sense 1 refers to ‘all the workers employed in an organisation considered as a group’ and sense 2 to ‘the people who work at a school, college or university, but who do not teach students’.)

The crossed out ‘ten staff’ in the second bullet point suggests that this is unacceptable in AmE.

4 Likes
9

You could also say: “three members of staff”.

2 Likes
10

I believe “members of staff” is British English.

11

I thought I was tireless, yes, Koyhoongliat, that is British.

1 Like
12

What about “staff members”? Is it British or American English?

1 Like
13

I think it is British English. Am I right?

1 Like
14

‘The staff (its members) are meeting at noon.’ This is British English.

‘The staff (collectively as ‘a unit’) is meeting at noon.’ This is American English.

‘Staff members’ is used both in British and American English.

3 Likes