這幾年因為疫情導致全球各地景氣都不好，最近世界各地各大企業吹起裁員風潮。我們今天來學一下幾個跟這個主題相關的英語用法。
我們先來看一則相關對話
A:Hey, what’s eating you? You look down in the dumps.
B:Oh, I was laid off because the company was downsizing. I have mortgage to pay so the financial burden has been on my mind.
A:I’m sorry to hear that. Actually, I happen to know someone who might be able to help you land a job. He has great contacts in the field.
B:Really? Thanks so much. I’m willing to give it a shot.
A：嘿，你怎麼了？你看起來很沮喪。
B：哦，我被解雇了，因為公司正在縮編。我要償還抵押貸款，所以我一直在擔憂財務負擔。
A：聽到這個消息我很難過。事實上，我碰巧認識一個人，他可能會幫你找到工作。他在這個領域有很好的人脈。
B：真的嗎？非常感謝。我願意試一試。
再來看一則新聞報導
Google announced plans to lay off 12,000 people from its workforce Friday, while Microsoft said Wednesday that it’s letting go of 10,000 employees. Amazon also began a fresh round of job cuts that are expected to eliminate more than 18,000 employees and become the largest workforce reduction in the e-retailer’s 28-year history.
Google週五宣佈計畫裁員1.2萬人，而微軟週三表示，將裁員1萬人。亞馬遜也開始了新一輪裁員計畫，預計裁員人數將超過1.8萬人，成為該電子零售商28年來最大規模的裁員。
以下是相關用語
裁員 lay sb off
lay sb off 表「裁員」，名詞為 layoff。裁員可能是因為公司營運不善或是公 司規模縮編（downsize），跟「開除」是不一樣的。而且會有「資遣費」（severance pay）。
100,000 federal workers will be laid off to reduce the deficit.
10萬聯邦公務人員將被辭退以減少赤字。
It will close more than 200 stores nationwide resulting in the layoffs of an estimated 2,000 employees.
它將關閉全國200多家店鋪，估計會有2,000名員工因此被裁員。
炒某人魷魚 fire sb = let sb go ; 開除某人用動詞fire 也可以用片語 let sb go。
Peterson was let go after less than two years.
不到兩年彼得森就被解雇了。
大幅削減 slash
這個字常用於報章雜誌，表「大幅度削減、大大降低」。
The workforce has been slashed by half.
職工人數裁減了一半。
削減、裁減經費或生意 cut back sth / cut back on sth
We had to cut back (on) production.
我們只得減產。
削減、裁減經費或生意 scale sth back / down
We are scaling down our training program mes next year.
我們將在明年縮小培訓計畫。
縮編 downsize
The company chose to downsize and more fully utilize the remaining workers.
公司決定縮小規模，並更加充分地用好餘下的工人。
無薪假 unpaid leave
Several car-makers in India and South Korea have asked staff to take unpaid leave.
一些印度和韓國汽車廠商已要求員工無薪休假。
失業的 unemployed
His financial problems escalated after he became unemployed.
他的財務問題在他失業後加劇了。
待業中 between jobs
與其直接（且略帶負面語氣）地說某人現在處於「失業狀態」，我們會用「待業中」來婉轉其詞。而「待業中」的英文就是 be between jobs，直接翻譯是「在兩個工作之間」，也就是說，離開了上一份工作，還沒開始下一份工作。
（通常因發不出工資而給的）無薪假 furlough
Many employees were furloughed during the recession.
許多雇員在不景氣時被放無薪假。
Dozens of workers at the factory have been placed on furlough.
那間工廠有數十名員工被放無薪假。
（尤指供大學教師進行學術研究或旅行的）公休假 sabbatical
Currently, Professor Lin is on a two-year sabbatical from his school.
林教授目前正在休學校給他的兩年公休假。
解雇通知 a pink slip
slip是名詞，表示「紙條；紙張」。過去在美國每當員工被解雇時，會拿到裝薪水的信封裡，會附上一張解聘通知，而這張通知通常是粉紅色的，因此pink slip就引申爲「解僱通知書」。注意，這個字也可以當動詞用喔！
Dan just received a pink slip from his company and now he has to look for a new job.
阿丹剛被公司解僱，所以他現在需要再找新工作。
即便這波裁員潮目前尚未吹進臺灣，但我們也要有高度危機意識。其實我們不管正在做什麼工作，都要充實自己，讓自己在跨領域能夠成長，如此一來就不會擔心在就業市場無用武之地。若真有不對勁，也才能最充裕準備下跳船，做最好的轉身。
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