skeleton staff

noun

The minimum number of employees needed to operate a business during a vacation, weekend, or other period when people do not normally work, or full staffing is not necessary.

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Meanings

nounskeleton staff (plural skeleton staffs)

plural skeleton staffs

  1. The minimum number of employees needed to operate a business during a vacation, weekend, or other period when people do not normally work, or full staffing is not necessary.

    The police department was operating with a skeleton staff.

    2018, Lee Child, Past Tense, page 63
    2 more examples

    The line was closed officially on August 9, and only a skeleton staff retained.

    1947 March and April, “The Position of the Festiniog Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 74

    But you must keep skeleton staff on duty at all car parks while the event is still open.

    2004, Des Conway, The Event Manager's Bible: How to Plan and Deliver an Event, page 121
Cite this entry
APA

skeleton staff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skeleton%20staff

MLA

“skeleton staff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skeleton%20staff. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skeleton staff,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skeleton%20staff.

Source: skeleton staff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.