Sasha
Community Tutor
Is it correct to say "the company is under layoffs?"
Feb 13, 2023 9:07 AM
Answers · 12
1
The company is undergoing layoffs.
February 13, 2023
1
The company is experiencing layoffs.
February 14, 2023
Hi Sasha Is it correct? Hmmm... It's always difficult to be absolutely 100% certain that this phrase isn't in use somewhere in the world... but if it is used then it's non standard. People are always inventing new phrases, but this doesn't seem to make sense because "to be under" means that an action is required because of some outside pressure or obligation, and that doesn't usually apply to this context because a company takes the action or decision to lay people off. (Unless there's more context that you want to explain)
February 13, 2023
Normally you’ll want ‘is’ to be followed by a word ending in ‘ing’ here. The company is experiencing/undergoing/having layoffs. The company is laying off a fifth of its staff. The company is reducing its workforce.
February 13, 2023
Let's put your question to three tests: 1) Is it grammatical? 2) Is its meaning easily understood? 3) Is it actually used? The answer to #1 and #2 is "yes", but the answer to #3 is "no". That means, to me, that it is perfectly alright to use it.
February 13, 2023
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