company, firm, office, association, shrine
社 centers on a structured group of people gathered around a shared purpose or place: a company, firm, association, or shrine. The shrine sense is the original concrete gathering place, while the modern organizational meanings extend that idea to secular institutions.
company; corporation; firm
society; public; community; the world
company president; manager; director
stock company; corporation; kabushiki kaisha; KK
company employee
Shinto shrine
head office; main office; headquarters; parent company
joining a company; getting a job with a company; starting work at a company
one's company; company one works for
the same company; the said firm
within a company; in-house
another company; other company
subsidiary (company)
this company; this firm
social life; social intercourse
our company; our firm
resignation; leaving office
company name; name of a company
going to work (e.g. in the morning); coming to work
trading company
branch office
Yasukuni Shrine
grand shrine; famous shrine
association; society
社 combines 示 (altar, deity) with 土 (earth), originally referring to an earthen altar or shrine dedicated to a local deity. Over time, the meaning broadened to include any organized group or association, and later to modern companies and firms.
The left side 示 suggests an altar or sacred place, and the right side 土 is earth. Picture a community gathering around an earthen shrine, which later becomes any organized group like a company or association.
For シャ, imagine a company shrine where employees share (シャ) tea together: share -> シャ, and the shared ritual strengthens the group bond.