The kanji 職 generally conveys the meaning of "occupation," "job," "profession," or "duty." It refers to a specific type of work or role that someone undertakes, often with a set of responsibilities and skills. The core concept revolves around the idea of a designated role or function within a larger context, such as a company, organization, or society. It also implies a certain level of skill and specialization.

・On-yomi (音読み): ショク (shoku) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): None, or used as a component of other words.

⚫︎ 職業 (shokugyou) Translation: Occupation; profession. ⚫︎ 職員 (shokuin) Translation: Staff; personnel; employee. ⚫︎ 退職 (taishoku) Translation: Retirement; resignation.

The kanji 職 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The left side is 耳 (mimi), meaning "ear," and the right side is 戈 (ka), meaning "halberd" or "spear." The sound component is not as clear as with some other characters. Originally, it seems the character was related to a type of official who would report the work of other people. The "ear" possibly represents the act of listening to reports or supervising. The whole meaning became "to supervise work," "to manage," which then generalized to "job" or "occupation."