downsize

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meaning 'to reduce in size or scale', is first recorded in the 1970s with reference to the manufacture of smaller and more economical motor cars. In the US in the early 1980s it rapidly acquired its now primary meaning, in the euphemistic jargon of business management, of reducing the personnel of an organization by redundancies and other drastic measures:

Decline in demand for certain products and other factors 'make it imperative to downsize the business'—Washington Post, 1983.

It behaves like a so-called ergative verb in being used as an intransitive with the object made the subject:

New York hospitals 'will downsize'—New York Times, 1986.

Its meaning has also been extended to other contexts:

I do like the house, but there comes a time when you have to move on and downsize—Hull Daily Mail, 2007.

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(1) Converting mainframe and mini-based systems to client/server LANs.

(2) To reduce equipment and associated costs by switching to a less-expensive system.

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Downsizing is the act of reducing the number of employees within a company in order to decrease costs and increase efficiency, with the ultimate goal of greater profitability. Downsized companies either continue the same work functions with fewer employees or they decrease the scope of company wide activities.

More than 85 percent of Fortune 1000 corporations downsized professional staff between 1987 and 1991, and analysts have suggested that the rise of automation is causing the loss of jobs, both in manual labor and service industries. In 1996, the New York Times wrote that, because of downsizing, the workplace is changing as greatly as it did during the industrial revolution.

Advocates applaud streamlining, believing that down-sizing reduces bureaucracy and leads to greater productivity. Critics, however, cite a 1991 Wyatt Company survey of 1,005 downsized businesses, which found that fewer than one-third of the companies experienced projected profitability, 46 percent discovered that expenses did not decrease as expected, and only 22 percent encountered satisfactorily increased productivity. Downsizing also eliminates employees with vital skills, leading to disruption of productivity, and employees who remain often experience reduced morale.

Bibliography

New York Times. The Downsizing of America. New York: Times Books, 1996.

—Kelly Boyer Sagert

Reducing the size of a company by eliminating workers and/or divisions within the company.

It is sometimes referred to as "trimming the fat".

Investopedia Says:
When a company downsizes, it is attempting to find ways to improve efficiency and increase profitability.

Related Links:
A bankrupt company can provide great opportunities for savvy investors. Taking Advantage Of Corporate Decline
Preparation can help you land on your feet after getting the "old heave-ho". Planning For Unemployment

See words rhyming with "downsize."

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - nedskære arbejdsstyrken, foretage afskedigelser, gøre mindre

Nederlands (Dutch)
kleiner maken, inkrimpen

Français (French)
v. tr. - (Écon) réduire les effectifs de, (Comput) réduire la taille/l'encombrement de, faire une micromisation

Deutsch (German)
v. - verringern, verkleinern

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - μειώνω το μέγεθος, (καθομ.) στρέφομαι προς την παραγωγή μικρότερων αυτοκινήτων

Italiano (Italian)
ridurre

Português (Portuguese)
v. - reduzir o número de empregados

Русский (Russian)
сокращать

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - reestructurar, reducir

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - förminska

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
以较小尺寸设计或制造, 裁减员工人数

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 以較小尺寸設計或製造, 裁減員工人數

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 크기를 작게 하다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 小型化する
adj. - 小型化した

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يصمم أو ينتج شئ بقياس, أو حجم أصغر‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮הקטין, הפחית הגודל‬

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