layoffs

noun

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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 More Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, but layoffs remain rare and jobless claims are still at historically low levels. — Paul Wiseman, Los Angeles Times, 3 Sep. 2026 With Los Angeles’s Lucas Museum of Narrative Art finally open to the press, the institution’s chief executive has responded to layoffs and high-profile departures that took place last year in the run-up to the inauguration. — Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 3 Sep. 2026 Just two years ago, Albemarle outlined $750 million in cost-cutting measures including layoffs and project postponements amid plummeting EV sales. — Charlotte Observer, 3 Sep. 2026 Khosrowshahi did not attribute the cuts to artificial intelligence, which has been responsible for a recent wave of tech layoffs. — Samantha Subin, CNBC, 2 Sep. 2026 Former employees said Monday was coincidentally the day their layoffs from the hospital became official after months of furlough. — Lisa Schencker, Chicago Tribune, 1 Sep. 2026 Banijay is closing All3Media International’s New York office, a move that will see a new round of layoffs following its mega-merger with the British production group. — Peter White, Deadline, 26 Aug. 2026 Meta confirmed to Reuters that the plan, reportedly codenamed Project OT (short for organization transformation), explored scenarios in which Meta reduced some team headcounts by 60 percent and that the plan called for two rounds of layoffs. — Scharon Harding, ArsTechnica, 26 Aug. 2026 With the county projected to lose hundreds of millions of dollars, the officials are raising concerns about county employee layoffs, service cuts and the potential for rents to increase. — Abigail Hasebroock, Miami Herald, 26 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for layoffs
  1. dismissals
  2. winters
  3. firings
  4. downtimes
  5. furloughs
  6. lulls
  7. breaks
Noun
  • That match had 24 dismissals either leg before wicket or bowled, a record for a Test in England.
    — Ben Jones Aug. 26, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The allegations against Tran have led to other murder convictions being overturned, dismissals and relatively lenient plea deals in other cases.
    — Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of dismissals
Noun
  • The northeastern Chinese city is known for its industrial roots and long, harsh winters – much colder than Louisville.
    — Fred He, CNN Money, 2 Sep. 2026
  • Deployments have included cold Northeast winters and extreme Arizona summer conditions.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of winters
Noun
  • Among other requests, the complaint asked the court to declare the firings unlawful under the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedures Act and bar the Pentagon from proceeding with the terminations.
    — BrieAnna J. Frank, USA Today, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Shortly after the firings, Stars and Stripes published an open letter from Navy Capt.
    — Jacob Rosen, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026
Definition of firings
Noun
  • These trends often materialize in batch changeovers, supplier changes, line downtimes and traceability challenges.
    — Ihor Yurchenko, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • 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
Definition of downtimes
Noun
  • That could mean more layoffs or other cost-cutting measures, such as furloughs or a spending freeze.
    — Kate Armanini, Chicago Tribune, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Police, firefighters, paramedics, and 911 employees are exempt from the furloughs.
    — Mateo Rosiles, USA Today, 30 June 2026
Definition of furloughs
Noun
  • Organized by Hospitality Indiana (formerly the Indiana Restaurant & Lodging Association), the two-week promotion runs twice a year to boost business at local restaurants that typically experience lulls during those periods.
    — Cheryl V. Jackson, IndyStar, 28 Aug. 2026
  • At their worst, defensive secondary lapses and occasional offensive lulls kept opponents in games longer than necessary.
    — David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of lulls
Noun
  • The threat of shattered glass if the bottle breaks, the subsequent odor suffusing all the items in your carryon, liquids seeping dangerously close to electronics—none of it sounds like a good idea.
    — Chloe Schama, Vogue, 1 Sep. 2026
  • If your washing machine breaks or there is a leak in your ceiling, your landlord will be responsible for paying to replace it or fix the problem.
    — Kelsey Neubauer, CNBC, 1 Sep. 2026
Definition of breaks

Browse Nearby Words

lay off (of)
layoffs
lay on
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Cite this Entry

“Layoffs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/layoffs. Accessed 4 Sep. 2026.

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