laying off

Cutting staff numbers

Laying off is dismissing workers, typically because of economic conditions rather than employee performance: The company is laying off three hundred workers.

Unlike firing, layoffs imply the job itself disappeared—downsizing, restructuring, budget cuts.

Laid-off workers may hope to be rehired when conditions improve.

Separately, laying off can mean stopping or backing away: Lay off the junk food.

Related

retrenchment · outplacement · walking papers · getting the boot · unemployment · job loss · furlough · redundancy · workforce reduction · job insecurity · RIF · wrongful termination · severance package · last day · fire · pink slip · stress · attrition

Categories
Opposites
employment action

laying offhiring

Giving someone work

employing · recruiting · onboarding · taking on · staffing up

organizational direction

laying offexpanding

Growing in scope

scaling up · staffing up · growing · building up · ramping up

agency/voluntariness

laying offquitting

Ceasing an activity

resigning · walking out · retiring · stepping down

Family

off, lay, layer, layout, relay, laying, laid, overlay, lay off

Familiarity
Top 50,000
Profile
Used worldwide · Timeless · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated G