lay off — stop employing
phrasal verbB2IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To stop employing someone, usually because there is not enough work or money.
Say it like a native
Textbook The company terminated the employment of two hundred workers.
Native The company laid off two hundred workers.
'Lay off' is the standard term for letting staff go for economic reasons. 'Terminated the employment of' is HR-formal.
Pattern: lay off + object (person/people)
In use
- The company had to lay off 200 workers last year due to falling sales.work
- If the economy gets worse, some businesses might have to lay off employees to save costs.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ He was laid off because he was lazy.
✓ He was fired/sacked because he was lazy.
'Lay off' = let go due to lack of work (no fault). Being dismissed for bad performance is 'fire/sack'.
Common collocations
lay off + staff— workers, staff, hundreds, temporarily
Don't confuse it
'Fire' means to remove someone for bad behavior; 'lay off' is about business needs.
Related
- lay off (stop doing something annoying) — Another meaning of 'lay off' is 'stop doing something annoying'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.