Chinese word

裁

Pronunciation

Pinyincái

Meaning

  • verblay off

Example

因为业绩不好，他被裁了。yīn wèi yè jì bù hǎo tā bèi cái le

Because the business was doing poorly, he was laid off.

Illustration for 裁 (lay off)

More examples

公司决定在月底开始裁员。gōng sī jué dìng zài yuè dǐ kāi shǐ cái yuán

The company decided to begin laying off employees at the end of the month.

Core concept

A company cuts away part of its workforce, leaving a smaller organization.

Common phrases

  • 裁员cái yuán

    lay off employees

  • 被裁bèi cái

    be laid off

Similar words

解雇jiě gù: To terminate an employee's employment and require the person to leave the workplace.
裁员cái yuán: To cut the size of a company's workforce for business or management reasons.
开除kāi chú: To remove an employee from a job as a formal punishment for serious misconduct.

Definition in Chinese

把员工从岗位上撤走，使其停止工作，通常指公司因缩编、调整或成本原因而进行的解雇行动。bǎ yuán gōng cóng gǎng wèi shàng chè zǒu shǐ qí tíng zhǐ gōng zuò tōng cháng zhǐ gōng sī yīn suō biān tiáo zhěng huò chéng běn yuán yīn ér jìn xíng de jiě gù xíng dòng

Word origin

裁 (cái, "cut") originally referred to cutting cloth and later extended to reducing a workforce.

Usage tips

  • In everyday Mandarin, this verb commonly appears in a passive pattern with the employee as the subject, so the sentence focuses on the job loss rather than the company's action.

Other meanings

  • fireverb

Opposites

Related words

  • 裁员cái yuánlay off employeesverb
  • 裁减cái jiǎnreduceverb

Word lists with this word