How do you say Employee in German?

Whether you’re starting a job, organizing a team, or reading about business trends, the word employee is everywhere. Learning how to say employee in German gives you the tools to talk about work, company structure, and your own career.

The German word is der Mitarbeiter. It’s masculine, and the plural is die Mitarbeiter. There’s also die Mitarbeiterin for a female employee. For a quick and clear overview of German gender and articles, my gender video lesson is a great resource.

Mitarbeiter is one of the 1000 most frequently used nouns in German - and it appears in all kinds of formal and informal contexts, from small businesses to huge corporations.

Here’s how Mitarbeiter appears in the four cases:

Nominative:Der Mitarbeiter ist neu.The employee is new.

Accusative:Wir suchen einen Mitarbeiter.We’re looking for an employee.

Dative:Ich spreche mit dem Mitarbeiter.I’m speaking with the employee.

Genitive:Die Meinung des Mitarbeiters zählt.The opinion of the employee counts.

Mitarbeiter comes up in typical phrases like:

• neue Mitarbeiter einstellen - to hire new employees

• langjährige Mitarbeiter - long-term staff

• Mitarbeitergespräch - employee review or evaluation

• Mitarbeiterführung - employee management

• Team aus engagierten Mitarbeitern - a team of committed employees

Verbs: einstellen (hire), kündigen (fire/resign), unterstützen (support), führen (lead), kommunizieren (communicate)Adjectives: motiviert (motivated), zuverlässig (reliable), neu (new), wertvoll (valuable), unersetzlich (irreplaceable)