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When Did The Word Layoff Turn into Furlough?

jet57

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So that's the question. The manipulation by the corporate never ceases to amaze me. A layoff of people has been turned into the benign, almost vacation sounding "furlough", as though such people are going on a paid holiday like the military men going home.

What do you think about it?
 
So that's the question. The manipulation by the corporate never ceases to amaze me. A layoff of people has been turned into the benign, almost vacation sounding "furlough", as though such people are going on a paid holiday like the military men going home.

What do you think about it?

A layoff can be temporary. At least it often was when I was young. I don't think I've heard it being used as a temporary thing in the past ten years. It's more ominous now. But it used to mean something not too far from furlough. Business was slow and so people didn't go into work until business picked up enough to call them back.
 
So that's the question. The manipulation by the corporate never ceases to amaze me. A layoff of people has been turned into the benign, almost vacation sounding "furlough", as though such people are going on a paid holiday like the military men going home.

What do you think about it?

I know that the airlines use that term a lot or at least they used to. What specifically are you talking about?
 
I know that the airlines use that term a lot or at least they used to. What specifically are you talking about?

Yeah, I got furloughed once. Never did figure out the difference between that and "laid off."

Government shutdown also "furloughs" employees, is what I guess his aim is.
 
layoff noun
lay·​off | \ˈlā-ˌȯf

Definition of layoff

1 : a period of inactivity or idleness

2 : the act of laying off an employee or a workforce also : shutdown


furlough noun
fur·​lough | \ˈfər-(ˌ)lō
\
Definition of furlough

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a leave of absence granted to a governmental or institutional employee (such as a soldier or civil servant) The Army began furloughs in September as so-called 'sanity checks' for soldiers whose tour has stretched to nearly a year.— Jenny Deam also : a document authorizing such a leave of absence

2 : a temporary leave from work that is not paid and is often for a set period of time One possible way to avoid layoffs is through furloughs—making workers take an unpaid leave of absence … .— Paul B. Brown

3 : a set period of time when a prisoner is allowed to leave a prison Those probation officers are then able to monitor criminals serving their sentences in work camps or on furlough rather than in jail as a way of relieving overcrowding.— Richard Willing


Furlough does not sound as serious as Layoff. :roll:
 
layoff noun
lay·​off | \ˈlā-ˌȯf

Definition of layoff

1 : a period of inactivity or idleness

2 : the act of laying off an employee or a workforce also : shutdown


furlough noun
fur·​lough | \ˈfər-(ˌ)lō
\
Definition of furlough

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a leave of absence granted to a governmental or institutional employee (such as a soldier or civil servant) The Army began furloughs in September as so-called 'sanity checks' for soldiers whose tour has stretched to nearly a year.— Jenny Deam also : a document authorizing such a leave of absence

2 : a temporary leave from work that is not paid and is often for a set period of time One possible way to avoid layoffs is through furloughs—making workers take an unpaid leave of absence … .— Paul B. Brown

3 : a set period of time when a prisoner is allowed to leave a prison Those probation officers are then able to monitor criminals serving their sentences in work camps or on furlough rather than in jail as a way of relieving overcrowding.— Richard Willing


Furlough does not sound as serious as Layoff. :roll:

That may be what the dictionary says but in my industry the two terms mean the exact same thing.
 
A layoff can be temporary. At least it often was when I was young. I don't think I've heard it being used as a temporary thing in the past ten years. It's more ominous now. But it used to mean something not too far from furlough. Business was slow and so people didn't go into work until business picked up enough to call them back.

Furlough is a military term for paid time off. With this government shut down nobody is being paid for not coming to work: they're laid off, but for some reason the corps (if you've been following business news) and the government have replaced the word with "furlough" so that it doesn't sound so ominous. The question is then have you noticed that replacement and how long do think it's been used?
 
I know that the airlines use that term a lot or at least they used to. What specifically are you talking about?

Hey; I'm talking about the replacement of the word to make the act sound more palatable in the minds of people. It's a sham in my view, so I wonder how many others have noticed it and for how long.
 
layoff noun
lay·​off | \ˈlā-ˌȯf

Definition of layoff

1 : a period of inactivity or idleness

2 : the act of laying off an employee or a workforce also : shutdown


furlough noun
fur·​lough | \ˈfər-(ˌ)lō
\
Definition of furlough

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a leave of absence granted to a governmental or institutional employee (such as a soldier or civil servant) The Army began furloughs in September as so-called 'sanity checks' for soldiers whose tour has stretched to nearly a year.— Jenny Deam also : a document authorizing such a leave of absence

2 : a temporary leave from work that is not paid and is often for a set period of time One possible way to avoid layoffs is through furloughs—making workers take an unpaid leave of absence … .— Paul B. Brown

3 : a set period of time when a prisoner is allowed to leave a prison Those probation officers are then able to monitor criminals serving their sentences in work camps or on furlough rather than in jail as a way of relieving overcrowding.— Richard Willing


Furlough does not sound as serious as Layoff. :roll:

And that's the point; when did you notice it?
 
That may be what the dictionary says but in my industry the two terms mean the exact same thing.

So, why then is your industry using the word furlough at all?
 
Hey; I'm talking about the replacement of the word to make the act sound more palatable in the minds of people. It's a sham in my view, so I wonder how many others have noticed it and for how long.

I think what you're trying to do is to make something out of nothing.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furlough


Definition of furlough

(Entry 1 of 2)

1 : a leave of absence granted to a governmental or institutional employee (such as a soldier or civil servant) The Army began furloughs in September as so-called 'sanity checks' for soldiers whose tour has stretched to nearly a year.— Jenny Deam also : a document authorizing such a leave of absence

2 : a temporary leave from work that is not paid and is often for a set period of time One possible way to avoid layoffs is through furloughs—making workers take an unpaid leave of absence … .

So, other than bitching about the proper use of a term, is there anything else on your plate this morning?
 
So that's the question. The manipulation by the corporate never ceases to amaze me. A layoff of people has been turned into the benign, almost vacation sounding "furlough", as though such people are going on a paid holiday like the military men going home.

What do you think about it?

No matter what they call it, it means the same thing. Someone gets screwed out of a paycheck right at the holiday season when it's needed most.

Meanwhile, the extremely flabby Commander in Chief gets to live in the lap of luxury.
 
So, why then is your industry using the word furlough at all?

Because corporate bureaucrat dip****s think people respond better to “furlough.”

No I’m not bitter why do you ask
 
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Because corporate bureaucrat dip****s think people respond better to “furlough.”

No I’m not bitter why do you ask

That's exactly what I'm thinking but the word got slipped in there and nobody seems to have noticed. We have to be careful with the language in order to keep up with what's goin on.
 
I think what you're trying to do is to make something out of nothing.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/furlough




So, other than bitching about the proper use of a term, is there anything else on your plate this morning?

Webster is republished every year.

THIS first definition in google search makes the point:

fur·lough /ˈfərlō/Submit

noun

1. leave of absence, especially that granted to a member of the armed services.

"a civil servant home on furlough"

verb US

2. grant a leave of absence to.

The term was also used to refer to a layoff of a railroad worker. Now however the term seems ubiquitous; it's a lot like the use of the word "Campus" to refer to a company building...
 
Answer: probably around the time "cashier" became "senior sales associate" and the like...
 
Furlough is a military term for paid time off. With this government shut down nobody is being paid for not coming to work: they're laid off, but for some reason the corps (if you've been following business news) and the government have replaced the word with "furlough" so that it doesn't sound so ominous. The question is then have you noticed that replacement and how long do think it's been used?


They do get paid for the time they were at home. Eventually. They just don't know how long it's going to be before they are given the money they need to make the house payments in their high cost-of-living area. Many of them will be thrust into a "feed the kids or pay the utilities" kind of situation.

I have noticed that many newscasters are being careful to say "partial government shutdown" instead of just "government shutdown".
 
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