headcount
noun/ˈhɛdˌkaʊnt/
Etymology From head + count.
1
The act of counting how many people are present in a group.
- Let's take a quick headcount, to make sure we're all here.
- Population 39,693 (just north of 115,000 today), Cheltenham has been overtaken by Gloucester in terms of headcount.2023 January 11, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: castles and cathedrals”, in RAIL, number 974, page 56:
2
The number of people present in a group or employed by a company.
- The company's headcount on January 1 was 15,203.
- The last headcount data for BTP is from December 2022, when the number of BTP officers was 3,183, up from 3,175 in April 2022.2023 March 8, “Network News: More than 200 BTP vacancies”, in RAIL, number 978, page 12:
3
More generally, a consideration of a company's appropriate staffing level based on some larger context. (Generally used adjectivally.)
- Due to economic difficulties, the company will be making headcount adjustments.
4
By extension, one slot in a workgroup, filled or to be filled by one person.
- I've convinced management to give us one more headcount, to take some work off the rest of us.
- Related terms
- capitation, headage, head tax, census, per capita