layoffs

plural of layoff
1
as in dismissals
the termination of the employment of an employee or a work force often temporarily even senior employees lost their jobs in the massive layoff

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2
as in winters
a period of often involuntary inactivity or idleness after such a long layoff the boxer badly needed to get back into shape

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of layoffs Production shutdowns, layoffs BrightDrop's struggles come less than a year after GM folded the commercial vans into its Chevrolet brand in a bid to boost its performance as GM tries to gain ground against competitors, including Ford and Rivian, in the electric van space. Jackie Charniga, Freep.com, 14 Sep. 2025 Bureau staff were told the group itself, already gutted as part of mass layoffs at the State Department in July, would refocus on migration diplomacy and disaster response rather than its traditional refugee focus. Ted Hesson, USA Today, 12 Sep. 2025 And while the President's budget has yet to be signed into law, protest leaders point to layoffs already underway, active spacecraft marked for premature decommission and projects halted midstream as evidence that real damage is already underway. Josh Dinner, Space.com, 12 Sep. 2025 One industry publication reported that the company just underwent significant layoffs. Andrew R. Chow, Time, 12 Sep. 2025 These tactics encourage employees to consider changing jobs without their employers needing to go through the implications of conducting larger-scale layoffs. Bryan Robinson, Forbes.com, 11 Sep. 2025 Additionally, the total number of unemployed individuals now outnumbers the number of job openings for the first time since April 2021, and surging layoffs have made finding and keeping a job an increasingly trying task. Hugh Cameron, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Sep. 2025 When GenAI first captured widespread attention in 2023, smart companies built sustainable AI governance models, prioritized transparency and tackled employee displacement through reinvention rather than layoffs. Jason Ma, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2025 And this has come with sweeping, indiscriminate layoffs of nonpartisan public servants. Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 21 Mar. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for layoffs
Noun
  • Trump has also long been at odds with Kimmel and other late night hosts, calling for their dismissals.
    Kinsey Crowley, USA Today, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Experts point out that Florida’s circuit courts allow for voluntary dismissals.
    Mario Ariza, ProPublica, 15 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The first winters after the Accords also brought public menorah lightings for Hanukkah, with Emiratis proudly standing by, and sometimes lighting the candles, with Jewish community leaders.
    Monica Marks, Time, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Another problem was winters in Grayling.
    Clare Conley, Outdoor Life, 18 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Meanwhile, some of Kirk's fans who knew him through his campus events and social media or radio show, have expressed skepticism over broad-swath firings.
    Taylor Seely, AZCentral.com, 20 Sep. 2025
  • Reactions to his death have prompted firings, First Amendment concerns and even the indefinite suspension of Jimmy Kimmel's long-running late night show.
    Ryan Murphy, IndyStar, 19 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • The average response time for phone calls dropped to 6 minutes from 30 minutes in the prior fiscal year; field office wait times decreased to 23 minutes; and removal of online service downtimes has benefited an additional 125,000 users in a single week, according to the agency's findings.
    Suzanne Blake, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The rate reduction triggered citywide furloughs, mandatory pay cuts, closures of parks and libraries, pension eliminations, and the loss of more than a hundred first responders.
    Veronica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 12 Sep. 2025
  • Chapman weathered the pandemic without layoffs, furloughs or cuts to salaries and benefits, Struppa said.
    Hanna Kang, Oc Register, 31 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • The bursts of action punctuate these lulls and sync perfectly with the intro song, Shortchange Hero (by The Heavy).
    G Kirilloff, Forbes.com, 18 Sep. 2025
  • Things got a little sparse in the middle of the maze, but a good set-up and a strong finish made up for any lulls in the action.
    Brady MacDonald, Oc Register, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • One study found the most productive employees work in 75-minute sprints followed by 33-minute breaks.
    Jacob Kupietzky, Forbes.com, 19 Sep. 2025
  • The Prince and Princess of Wales are known to retreat there with their kids, Prince George, 12, Princess Charlotte, 10, and Prince Louis, 7, during free weekends, school breaks and holidays, and the Georgian manor is where Kate keeps her beehives.
    Janine Henni, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Layoffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/layoffs. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.

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