| employment 1) The state of being paid to work for somebody else. 2) The number of people employed, in this sense. This includes both full-time and part-time workers. 3) The state of being gainfully occupied: this includes self-employment as well as working for somebody else. Full employment is a state in which everybody wishing to be so is gainfully employed, in this sense. See also: contract of employment, full employment, and overfull employment |