From Latin 'implicare' (to enfold) — to employ is to fold someone in, to involve them. Doublet of 'imply.'
To give work to someone and pay them for it; to make use of something. As a noun, the state of being employed.
From Old French 'emploier' (to make use of, to apply, to engage), from Latin 'implicāre' (to enfold, to involve, to entangle, to engage), from 'in-' (into, in) + 'plicāre' (to fold, to weave). 'Plicāre' descends from PIE *plek- (to plait, to fold, to weave), which produced an enormous Latin family: 'plectere' (to plait), 'plexus' (network, plait), 'perplexus' (entangled), and via the noun 'plica' (fold), the words 'triple,' 'simple,' 'multiply,' 'complex,' 'explicit,' 'implicit,' 'replicate,' 'supplicate,' and 'application.' In Old French the Latin 'implicāre' evolved phonetically to 'emploier,' with '-pl-' shifting to '-pl-' and then the prefix weakening. To employ someone is literally to 'fold them into' your work — to involve them, to engage their