When to use “staffers” vs “staff”?

For example:

  1. “The company told its staff to take Friday off.”
  2. “The company told its staffers to take Friday off.”
  • Do both of these sentences mean exactly the same thing?
  • Is one preferred or maybe less ambiguous than the other?
  • Is there ever a situation where “staff” and “staffers” are not interchangeable?

Edit for clarification:

I am aware that a "staffer" (singular) is a single person while "staff" refers to a group. I'm specifically asking about "staffers" (plural) vs "staff".


"Staff" and "staffer" are essentially the same, but they are slightly distinct.

"Staff" is defined as:

All the people employed by a particular organization. [Lexico]

Therefore, "staff" is a collective noun (such as "family" or "crew").

"Staffer" is defined as:

A member of the staff of an organization, especially of a newspaper. [Lexico]

Therefore, "staffer" refers to an individual member of a staff.


Once you account for the fact that "staff" is collective (as you did in your sentence), the sentences' meanings are identical. Personally, I would use "staff" because it is much more common [Ngram].