Workload: meaning, definitions and examples

Use when referring to the amount of work assigned to or expected from a person within a certain period.

• The new manager is concerned about the heavy workload in her department.
• I've been given a lighter workload this month.

Use this phrase when describing the overall size or amount of work, particularly in industries where work can be quantified but is not about individual tasks.

• Due to the holiday season, the work volume at the warehouse has tripled.
• They need to hire more staff to handle the increased work volume.

Use when comparing or evaluating the intensity of the workload, often on a scale.

• Her workload level is one of the highest in the company.
• We need to assess the workload level to ensure team members are not overwhelmed.

Use when specifically measuring the number of tasks, projects, or units of work that need to be completed.

• He constantly monitors the work quantity to ensure deadlines are met.
• The work quantity has increased significantly this quarter.

Repeated, see first entry for details.

Specifically refers to the amount of academic tasks, such as lectures, assignments, and exams, a student has to manage within a certain time frame.

• The academic workload for medical students is typically very demanding.
• He struggled to cope with the academic workload during his first semester.

Refers to the total amount of study-related work and activities undertaken by a student, encompassing all coursework, assignments, and preparation.

• Balancing a heavy study load and a part-time job can be challenging.
• Her study load increased significantly during the exam period.

Relates to the amount of work and study required for a particular course or subject. It is often used to describe the total effort required from students for a single class or set of classes.

• The course workload for the chemistry class includes weekly labs and bi-weekly midterms.
• Students often compare the course workload before choosing their electives.

General term referring to the amount of work tasks or duties one has to complete, applicable in both physical and mental tasks.

• She managed her workload efficiently and finished ahead of schedule.
• The team's workload increased dramatically before the project deadline.

Specific term used in computer science to describe the amount of processing power required by a computation-intensive task.

• The new algorithm reduces the computational load on the server.
• Running the simulation resulted in a high computational load.

Term often used in IT to describe the overall demand placed on a computer system's resources, including CPU, memory, and storage.

• During peak hours, the system load reaches its maximum capacity.
• Monitoring tools help manage and balance the system load effectively.

Used to describe the need for computational resources to process data or execute tasks, often in context of software and hardware.

• The processing demand of the application was too high for the old hardware.
• Optimizing the code helped lower the processing demand.