noun · neutral
layoff
UK/ˈleɪɒf/US/ˈleɪɔːf/LAY·off
the dismissal of employees by an employer, often because of a reduction in work or financial reasons
Examples
“The factory announced a temporary layoff of 200 workers.”
“During the recession many companies resorted to layoffs.”
“The staff feared a layoff after the merger.”
Band 8 sentence
“Due to the downturn the company implemented a temporary layoff programme to reduce costs without resorting to permanent redundancies.”
Collocations
- face a layoff
- mass layoff
- temporary layoff
Word family
Common mistakes
They fired him because of recession.→They laid him off because of the recession.
There were many layoffsed at the factory→There were many layoffs at the factory
Say it for a higher band
5fire→6dismiss→7+layoff
Synonyms
redundancy
dismissal
Easily confused
fire
“He was fired for repeatedly arriving late.”
dismiss
“The company dismissed the employee after an internal investigation.”
Related words
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In Work & Career
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