Why do companies call employees associates

When you are writing your resume, remember to include the associate term in the relevant job titles in your work experience section. Find jobs. Company reviews. Find salaries. Upload your resume. Sign in. Finding a Job. What is an associate?

Alternative definitions. Associate examples. Associate clerk Associate manager Associate director Associate vice president Associate writer Associate program developer Associate officer Sales associate. Sample associate job descriptions. Example: Associate manager. Example: Associate director of marketing. Example: Associate editor. Reviewing and editing content written by staff writers or freelancers Creating and enforcing deadlines for projects Supervising the progress of their editing team Overseeing the productivity of an individual department during high-demand periods Writing regularly-scheduled editorial articles for publications Checking content sources for accuracy and expertise.

Tips for finding an associate position. He attended the University of Washington, studying engineering, and worked in logistics, health care and newspapers before deciding to go to work for himself. By Josh Fredman Updated August 08, Differences Between a J. Related Articles. Mean When Talking About an Attorney? It only takes a minute to sign up. Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search. I've noted that some US companies call people working for them "associates," rather than "employees.

Associate could have several meanings and origins; personally, I suspect the original motivation was to find an alternative to employee which sounded more impressive and designed to make the employee feel more important.

The origin of the now-common associate could be descended etymologically from a combination of people in frequent company, sharing common interest, and belonging to an institution in a subordinated capacity.

I believe the term employee is the technical term referring to an individual that is on company X's payroll. Associate is a "customer facing" term used to refer to an individual that is associated with the company and can assist the customer in some way.

This is highlighted by the fact that some companies have associates who are not technically employees but rather vendors, contractors and other contingent staff. Companies use the word Associate in order to create psychological distance between Management and Employee.

Employers don't want their staff getting to comfortable with the firm. Makes it easier to fire them. Sign up to join this community. The best answers are voted up and rise to the top. Stack Overflow for Teams — Collaborate and share knowledge with a private group.