redundancy
The state of no longer being employed because the job is no longer needed or the employer cannot afford to pay.
speakingWork and economy
IELTS use
Important for discussing job loss, restructuring, and economic difficulties.
Examples
- The factory faced closure, leading to mass redundancies.
- She was made redundant after the company merged with another.
- Redundancy packages often include a severance payment.
- The fear of redundancy can affect employee mental health.
Collocations
- make someone redundant
- The company had to make 200 workers redundant.
- face redundancy
- Many employees face redundancy during a recession.
- redundancy package
- The redundancy package included counselling and a cash payment.
- voluntary redundancy
- Some companies offer voluntary redundancy to reduce staff numbers.
Word family
- Noun
- redundancy, redundancies
- Verb
- made redundant
- Adjective
- redundant
Paraphrases
- losing one's job: General, less formal.
- being laid off: Common in American English.
- dismissal for economic reasons: More formal, explanatory.
Common mistakes
- He was fired because the company restructured. to He was made redundant because the company restructured.. 'Fired' implies poor performance; 'made redundant' is for economic reasons.
- The redundancy affected many employees. to The redundancies affected many employees.. When referring to multiple people, use the plural 'redundancies'.
- She took voluntary redundancy. to She accepted voluntary redundancy.. 'Took' is informal; 'accepted' is more professional.