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裁员 (cái yuán) — to lay off employees, to downsize (staff)

Definition

裁员 focuses on the company cutting staff as a group, usually for economic reasons. 辞退 is the act of dismissing a specific employee; 解雇 emphasizes firing someone for cause.

verb
to lay off employeesto downsize (staff)

Examples

  • 裁员。
    Gōng sī yīn wèi kuī sǔn ér cái yuán.
    The company laid off staff due to losses.
  • 。
    Zhè cì cái le yì bǎi míng yuán gōng.
    This time (they) laid off one hundred employees.
  • 裁员，。
    Lǎo bǎn xuān bù yào cái yuán de shí hou, dà jiā dōu hěn jǐn zhāng.
    When the boss announced layoffs, everyone was very nervous.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

裁cáicut/reduce
员yuánstaff

裁员 puts 裁 (cut/reduce) before 员 (staff), meaning to cut staff.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
衣衣yī
Sound part声符shēngfú
𢦏
𢦏𢦏裁cái
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

裁 combines 衣 (clothing) with 𢦏, whose form is tied to a blade and an arrow, to show cutting fabric.

Open 裁 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 員; 员 is its simplified writing.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
鼎鼎dǐngding
Sound part声符shēngfú
〇
〇líng員yuán
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

In the traditional form 員, 〇 supplies the sound and 鼎 supplies the meaning; the simplified 员 is a shortened form.

Open 员 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 7-9HSK 2.0 Level 6Workplace & Office

Browse more HSK 7-9 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.