Sharpness of workers after a short reduction (6)
I believe the answer is:
acumen
'sharpness' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'workers after a short reduction' is the wordplay.
'workers' becomes 'men' (man is a kind of worker).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'short reduction' becomes 'cu' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'a'+'cu'='acu'
'men' after 'acu' is 'ACUMEN'.
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for acumen that I've seen before include "Keen perception" , "Quick intelligence" , "Mental keenness" , "Sharpness of mind, good for business" , "Gumption" .)