layoff
n.a period of time when an employee is not working because their company has no work for them. It is usually a temporary situation.
n.a period of time during which an employee is not working, typically due to a lack of available work or economic downturn. Often used in the plural to describe a company-wide reduction in workforce.
“The factory workers are on a three-week layoff.”
“After the merger, many employees faced a temporary layoff while the new management structure was finalized.”
“The seasonal nature of the tourism industry means that many hospitality staff are accustomed to a layoff during the winter months when visitor numbers drop significantly.”
“Adults may stop participating in a program because of a work layoff or a new baby, then start again after months or years, then move across town and go to another program.”
“Yet when we examined stock market reactions to these layoff announcements, the average return was close to zero.”
Deverbal from lay off.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.