take on — hire someone
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
to employ someone to work for you or your company
Say it like a native
Textbook The firm intends to recruit additional personnel this quarter.
Native The firm's taking on more staff this quarter.
'Take on' is the everyday verb for hiring; 'recruit additional personnel' is HR-formal.
Pattern: take on + noun (person, staff, employee)
In use
- The company plans to take on five new employees next month.work
- Many businesses are not able to take on new workers during an economic downturn.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ They took on with three new people.
✓ They took on three new people.
'Take on' takes the object directly — no 'with'.
Common collocations
take on + staff— more staff, an apprentice, new people, extra hands
Don't confuse it
'Take on' in this sense is about hiring, not accepting a task.
Related
- take on (accept responsibility) — Another meaning of 'take on' is 'accept responsibility'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.