The worker has a thousand to help servant (8)
I believe the answer is:
handmaid
'servant' is the definition.
(I know that servant can be written as handmaid)
'the worker has a thousand to help' is the wordplay.
'the worker' becomes 'hand' (hand is a kind of worker).
'has' says to put letters next to each other.
'a thousand' becomes 'M' (Roman numeral for a thousand).
'to help' becomes 'aid' ('aid' can be a synonym of 'help').
'hand'+'m'+'aid'='HANDMAID'
(Other definitions for handmaid that I've seen before include "Female attendant" , "servant - with 2d" , "Female servant" .)