Layoff

The word "layoff" first appeared in American English in the 1860s, describing a temporary period of inactivity, a pause in work rather than a termination of employment.1 Workers were "laid off" when demand slowed, with the expectation that they would be called back when production resumed. The term preserved a sense of impermanence. The employment relationship was suspended, not severed.

Through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, layoffs followed seasonal patterns in industries like construction, agriculture, and garment manufacturing. The assumption of recall was so strong that many workers did not seek other employment during a layoff period.2

The meaning began to shift during the mass workforce reductions of the 1970s and 1980s. When major American manufacturers closed plants permanently and eliminated positions that would never return, the word "layoff" followed them, acquiring the meaning of permanent job loss that it carries today.3

Corporate euphemisms proliferated alongside the new meaning. "Downsizing," "rightsizing," "reduction in force," and "restructuring" all described the same event while avoiding the word that workers actually experienced. The sociologist Art Budros documented how American corporations in the 1990s adopted layoffs not only as a response to financial distress but as a proactive strategy for improving stock prices.4

The Bureau of Labor Statistics began tracking mass layoff events, defined as affecting 50 or more workers at a single establishment, in 1995. The data series was discontinued in 2013 due to budget constraints.5