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downsizing

downsizing

23 4.5
Cutting jobs and costs in a company to save money
  • noun
  • /ˈdaʊnˌsaɪzɪŋ/
  • Jargon
translation icon : reducción de plantilla
  • In terms of perhaps more aggressive downsizing, I guess this is the first call with investors.
  • corporate downsizing
  • downsizing and restructuring
  • government downsizing

You have agencies that we ought to look at downsizing or, or collapsing or, or, or consolidating because they are redundant.

Examples

  • We hear much about downsizing but relatively little about decentralization, total quality management, and so on.

    Academic text (1995)
  • The company's recent downsizing led to several layoffs and restructuring in various departments.

  • All this talk about downsizing, your job might not be here when you get back.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • I'm, you know, these guys have gone through a downsizing recently.

  • Also, we feel the effect of downsizing, which you characterized very, very well.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Our client's going through a periodic downsizing.

  • Such a finding probably reflects the downsizing that is occurring in this sector of the industry.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The deregulation of markets has meant the downsizing of the state and particularly of its welfare programs.

    Academic text (1999)
  • As you've probably heard, Quincy, the company is going through a downsizing.

  • Meanwhile, efforts to cut back graduate enrollments have been overmatched by relentless downsizing of faculties hit by budget tightening.

    Academic text (1999)

Synonyms

reduction
vsdownsizing
451 3.2

A decrease in size, amount, degree, or price

is the organizational practice to cut company size and costs, often affecting staff
layoff
vsdownsizing
145 2.6

An event when a company ends someone's job because of money problems, not because they did a bad job

is the broader company process aimed at cutting size or costs, often causing this
decrease
vsdownsizing
84 2.2

A drop in amount or number

is this reduction applied to company scale and costs, often via staff cuts
restructuring
vsdownsizing
54 4.2

Changing how a company or system is organized to make it work better

may include staff cuts but primarily focuses on changing structure and roles
reorganization
vsdownsizing
27 3.7

Major changes to how a company or group is set up

often reduces costs or size as one goal rather than being solely structural
cost cutting
vsdownsizing
14 3.0

Steps a company takes to spend less money

covers cutting company size as a way to lower costs, not only budgets
shrinking
vsdownsizing
7 3.2

A decrease in size, amount, or value

is the company practice of cutting size and costs rather than general reduction
shrinkage
vsdownsizing
5 5.1

A decrease in size, amount, or value

applies this shrinking idea to organizations and their costs, often via layoffs
lessening
vsdownsizing
4 3.8

A decrease in amount, size, or strength

applies that general decrease specifically to company costs and staff
diminishment
vsdownsizing
4 6.7

A decrease in size, strength or importance

describes intentional organizational shrinking to save money, not passive decline
curtailment
vsdownsizing
3 7.5

A cut that reduces something or stops it earlier than planned

refers specifically to lowering organizational size or costs, often through staffing changes
step-down
vsdownsizing
3 4.6

A decrease in amount or level, for example moving to a lower job

is the corporate process to shrink organization size and reduce costs
retrenchment
vsdownsizing
  • Formal
2 8.1

A cut in spending by a business or government to save money

targets overall size and costs, not only spending, and often removes posts
cutdown
vsdownsizing
2 4.0

A drop in the number or amount of something

is a planned organizational reduction aimed at financial stability, not general cuts
drawdown
vsdownsizing
  • Specialized
2 6.9

A fall in the value or amount of an investment

refers to lowering company size or costs specifically to improve finances
reduction in force
vsdownsizing
  • Formal
1 5.2

A company cuts many jobs at the same time and lets workers go

focuses on reducing organizational size and costs broadly, often using staff cuts
to smartsizing
vsdownsizing
  • Jargon
8.3

To make a company smaller and more efficient by changing its structure and jobs

is mainly about shrinking size or costs, not only efficiency improvements

Antonyms

1.6

An increase in size, number, or importance of something

241 3.3

An increase in size, amount, or range

How Large

closure
46 4.7
layoff
145 2.6
downsizing
  • Jargon
23 4.5
cost cutting
14 3.0
restructuring
54 4.2

Surface Forms

downsizing singular
downsizings plural

Morphology

downsizing = downsize (semi-transparent) = down + size + ing

Formed from 'down' + 'size' with '-ing', but the business sense of cutting jobs is a specialized/metaphorical extension rather than a purely literal 'make smaller'.

Etymology

Downsizing comes from down ('smaller') and size ('how big something is'), so it means making a company smaller, often by cutting jobs to reduce costs.