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Glite Dictionary
🛏️ A soft mattress 👷 To add extra jobs 🧸 To spoil
to featherbed

to featherbed

9.6
To give more jobs than needed to keep people employed
  • verb
  • /ˈfɛðərˌbɛd/
  • Archaic
translation icon : sobrecargar
  • The company was accused of featherbedding to keep union members employed.

Examples

  • Management resisted pressure to featherbed despite demands from labor unions.

  • The company decided to featherbed its workforce to meet union demands.

  • Some critics argue that featherbedding increases operational costs without improving productivity.

  • Why did the factory featherbed so many positions?

  • The management chose not to featherbed the staff even under pressure from the union.

  • Some organizations engage in featherbedding to satisfy union requirements, which can lead to inefficiencies.

  • To avoid layoffs, the company decided to featherbed its operations by hiring more employees than needed.

Antonyms

to cut
∞ 2.3

To remove parts or make something shorter, for example text

to streamline
41 4.1

Make a process or system simpler and more efficient

How Overstaffed

overmanning
  • Specialized
6.8
to featherbed
  • Archaic
9.6
hired
1.1

Surface Forms

featherbed infinitive
featherbedded past
featherbedded past participle
featherbedding present participle
featherbeds third person singular

Etymology

Featherbed as a verb comes from the image of making a bed extra soft with feather and bed, a picture of giving comfort. A helpful way to remember the work sense is to think of 'featherbedding' as adding extra, comfortable jobs to protect workers, which is why it means giving more jobs than are needed.