Editing Layoff (section)

== Terminology ==
[[Euphemism]]s are often used to "soften the blow" in the process of [[Termination of employment|firing]] and being fired.<ref name=Wilkinson2005>{{cite book |last=Wilkinson |first=A |year=2004 |title=Downsizing, rightsizing and dumbsizing: quality, human resources and sustainability – Total Quality Management |volume=15 |issue=8 |url=http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/10072/16844/1/34201_1.pdf |access-date=2009-02-07 |archive-date=2009-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225211321/http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/10072/16844/1/34201_1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=RedWilk2006>{{cite book |last1=Redman |first1=Tom |last2=Wilkinson |first2=Adrian |chapter=Downsizing |pages=356–381 |editor1-last=Redman |editor1-first=Tom |editor2-last=Wilkinson |editor2-first=Adrian |title=Contemporary Human Resource Management: Text and Cases |date=2006 |publisher=FT/Prentice Hall |isbn=978-0-273-68663-7 }}</ref> The term "layoff" originally meant a temporary interruption in work<ref name="LaborTerm1921"/> (and usually pay). The term became a euphemism for permanent termination of employment and now usually requires the addition of "temporary" to refer to the original meaning. Many other euphemisms have been coined for "(permanent) layoff", including "downsizing", "excess reduction", "rightsizing", "leveraging synergies", "[[delayering]]", "smartsizing", "redeployment", "workforce reduction", "workforce optimization", "simplification", "force shaping", "recussion", "manage out people",<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-29/meta-announces-hiring-freeze-warns-employees-of-restructuring |title=Meta Announces Hiring Freeze, Warns Employees of Restructuring |website=[[Bloomberg News]] |date=29 September 2022 }}</ref> "resource action",<ref>{{Cite web |last=Claburn |first=Thomas |title=IBM Watson Health layoffs disguised as staff 'redeployment' |url=https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/29/ibm_allegedly_hid_watson_health/ |access-date=2022-10-27 |website=www.theregister.com |language=en}}</ref> and "reduction in force" (also called "RIF", especially in the government employment sector). "Mass layoff" is defined by the [[United States Department of Labor]] as 50 or more workers laid off from the same company around the same time. "Attrition" implies that positions will be eliminated as workers quit or retire. "Early retirement" means workers may quit now yet still remain eligible for their retirement benefits later.

"Redundancy" is a specific legal term in [[UK labour law]] with a definition in section 139 of the [[Employment Rights Act 1996#Part XI, Redundancy payments|Employment Rights Act 1996]]:<ref>UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/part/XI Employment Rights Act 1996, Part XI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200529175343/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/18/part/XI |date=2020-05-29 }}, accessed 13 March 2021</ref> see [[Redundancy in United Kingdom law]].

When an employer is faced with work of a particular type ceasing or diminishing at a particular location,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.citation.co.uk/employment-law/redundancy |title=Employers Redundancy procedure, Redundancy Policy, Redundancy compliance |publisher=Citation.co.uk |access-date=2013-08-01 |archive-date=2013-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619234349/http://www.citation.co.uk/employment-law/redundancy |url-status=live }}</ref> it may be perceived{{By whom|date=March 2011}} as [[obfuscation]]. [[Termination of employment|Firing]]s imply misconduct or failure while layoffs imply economic forces beyond the employer's and employees' control, especially in the face of a [[recession]].{{cn|date=March 2022}}