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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Brought To You By The Department of Redundancy Department

Brought To You By The Department of Redundancy Department

by John Cole|  January 17, 200812:25 pm| 54 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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Interesting article in the BBC about the subprime mess that is worth reading, but one phrase in particular stood out in the piece:

Some, such as Ron Todd, who lives in a suburb just south of the city, are in danger of losing their home after being made redundant by Northwest Airlines, a big local employer.

Is being made redundant a new euphemism, like being “downsized,” or is this just a British thing that I never picked up on?

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Reader Interactions

54Comments

  1. 1.

    Jen

    January 17, 2008 at 12:26 pm

    It’s a British thing you never picked up on.

  2. 2.

    gratefulcub

    January 17, 2008 at 12:27 pm

    What Jen says. Didn’t anyone else watch the original ‘The Office’?

  3. 3.

    Nancy Irving

    January 17, 2008 at 12:32 pm

    An old-established British euphemism.

  4. 4.

    Zifnab

    January 17, 2008 at 12:36 pm

    Downsizing usually means the company needs to cut people to stay afloat. Being made “redundant” usually means your company acquired someone else to do your job cheaper/better than you can.

    Correct me if I’m mistaken.

  5. 5.

    RSA

    January 17, 2008 at 12:36 pm

    Please don’t tell us what you’ve been thinking on hearing, “So-and-so got the sack.”

  6. 6.

    Phil

    January 17, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    According to dictionary.com, “redundancy” is a British term for unemployment or a layoff.

    I believe the old “Yes, Minister” series used the expression as well, so it goes back a ways.

  7. 7.

    Jen

    January 17, 2008 at 12:39 pm

    The British Office is genius. Gareth is the funniest, freakiest looking freak to grace a TV, says I.

    “I could catch a monkey. If I was starving I could. I’d make poison darts out of the poison of the deadly frogs. One milligram of that poison can kill a monkey. Or a man. Prick yourself and you’d be dead within a day. Or longer. Different frogs, different times.”

  8. 8.

    p-rex

    January 17, 2008 at 12:54 pm

    redundancy doesn’t necessarily mean someone else has been hired in your place. it could just mean that one of your co-workers now has two jobs, and you’ve got none. this happened to a friend of mine when i was living in australia.

  9. 9.

    gratefulcub

    January 17, 2008 at 12:56 pm

    “I could catch a monkey. If I was starving I could. I’d make poison darts out of the poison of the deadly frogs. One milligram of that poison can kill a monkey. Or a man. Prick yourself and you’d be dead within a day. Or longer. Different frogs, different times.”

    Funny, I haven’t seen an episode in several years. But, as I read that, the entire scene came back instantly.

    The great thing about the series (and the American one as well) is that it is about the boss, but they allowed all of the supporting characters to have huge roles. And the supporting cast was perfect.

  10. 10.

    Jay B.

    January 17, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    I thought it meant that Northwest cloned the guy and his clone was willing to work for minimum wage. Clones are so fucking stupid.

  11. 11.

    Nazgul35

    January 17, 2008 at 1:05 pm

    Yeah…not only are clones Scabs, but they leave one when you make them…

    Ironic in a way.

  12. 12.

    David

    January 17, 2008 at 1:10 pm

    Wow this veered OT quickly.

    How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

  13. 13.

    David

    January 17, 2008 at 1:10 pm

    The fish.

  14. 14.

    B-$

    January 17, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    Marge: Lisa, hello! How are you doing in England? Remember, an elevator is called a “lift”, a mile is called a “kilometer” and botulism is called “steak and kidney pie”.

  15. 15.

    Helena Montana

    January 17, 2008 at 1:22 pm

    It’s Britspeak for “laid off.”

  16. 16.

    Michael D.

    January 17, 2008 at 1:23 pm

    That’s a term I’ve heard used all the time when I lived in Canada. It’s when two people are doing the same job. One gets fired. The other gets his or her workload doubled.

  17. 17.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    January 17, 2008 at 1:25 pm

    The fish.

    I’m sorry, sir, the answer I was looking for is “Time Cube”

  18. 18.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    January 17, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    The other gets his or her workload doubled.

    My question is, what is the euphemism for being shafted like that? Being made “the doormat” ?

  19. 19.

    The Other Steve

    January 17, 2008 at 1:29 pm

    It’s not downsizing any more.

    It’s rightsizing! rightsizing could possibly mean expanding the company to satisfy consumer demand. Of course it never does.

  20. 20.

    The Other Steve

    January 17, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Big news today. Bernanke went to Congress and said they needed a stimulus package.

    Bush has declared he won’t support a stimulus package unless he get’s a list of right-wing agenda items passed first, such as extending tax cuts, appointing wingnut judges and so forth.

  21. 21.

    Keith

    January 17, 2008 at 1:32 pm

    If you’re made redundant, then it’s actually illegal to hire someone new to do your job – if you’ve been made redundant then it’s because the company claim that your job is no longer needed.

  22. 22.

    Caidence (fmr. Chris)

    January 17, 2008 at 1:40 pm

    Bush has declared he won’t support a stimulus package unless he get’s a list of right-wing agenda items passed first, such as extending tax cuts, appointing wingnut judges and so forth.

    Good thing we have a Democratic Congress to make sure such unilateral efforts are at least debated and at most balanced for the sake of the country!! Yes, these days are good now, with Pelosi and Reid boldly preventing executive abuses!

    *groan*

  23. 23.

    Dennis - SGMM

    January 17, 2008 at 1:44 pm

    Bush has declared he won’t support a stimulus package unless he get’s a list of right-wing agenda items passed first, such as extending tax cuts, appointing wingnut judges and so forth.

    Surprised that he didn’t demand repeal of the 22nd Amendment. Does anyone really believe that a $250 tax rebate ($500 per couple) will fix the economy? Talk about magical thinking.

    “We were about to buy a new home but we couldn’t because we were five-hundred dollars short on our down payment. Now we’re buying thanks to the government’s stimulus package!”

    All any stimulus package will do is increase the national debt, further diminish the value of our currency and get some more Chinese imports bought at WalMart. No one on either side of the aisle wants to come to grips with the long-term problems in our economy so they’ll produce a bill with a small giveaway for the masses and more lard for those who already have plenty.

  24. 24.

    Jake

    January 17, 2008 at 1:50 pm

    How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

    Green!

  25. 25.

    Porquin Panko

    January 17, 2008 at 1:54 pm

    In the UK, there’s a strong collocation between the word “redundancy” and “payout” or “payment”. I never noticed the term “downsizing payment” or “downsizing payout” in my 4 years in the US.

    Is it common or not in the US, or is there a different term for this?

  26. 26.

    Conservatively Liberal

    January 17, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    John, she is just another wingnut that does not read the fine print. There are a lot of those in government. Plus she needs the ID so she can show off how important she used to be.

  27. 27.

    Bubblegum Tate

    January 17, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    “I could catch a monkey. If I was starving I could. I’d make poison darts out of the poison of the deadly frogs. One milligram of that poison can kill a monkey. Or a man. Prick yourself and you’d be dead within a day. Or longer. Different frogs, different times.”

    “Haven’t you ever heard the phrase ‘softly softly catch a monkey?'”

    Big Keith’s performance evaluation is one of the funniest damn things I have ever seen. I just love the way he totally undermines the whole process.

    (And yes, I learned what a “redundancy” is from that show.)

  28. 28.

    Billy K

    January 17, 2008 at 2:09 pm

    In the (British) Office the “redundancies” were due to two offices merging. So in many cases there were two people to do one job. One person became redundant.

    At least that’s how I understand it. I’m not British, and hopefully not redundant.

  29. 29.

    wilson

    January 17, 2008 at 2:19 pm

    (fmr. chris) – euphemism for that is “dog’s body”

  30. 30.

    Wilfred

    January 17, 2008 at 2:35 pm

    Big news today. Bernanke went to Congress and said they needed a stimulus package.

    Bbbbut what happened to the GREATEST ECONOMY YOU NEVER HEARD OF?

  31. 31.

    Bubblegum Tate

    January 17, 2008 at 2:37 pm

    Bbbbut what happened to the GREATEST ECONOMY YOU NEVER HEARD OF?

    The undoubted success of future tax cuts to compensate for the bad times brought on by the success of the last round of tax cuts is, indeed, central to their point that tax cuts never fail.

  32. 32.

    Bombadil

    January 17, 2008 at 2:41 pm

    The fish.

    That’s actually the answer to “How many Dadaists does it take to change a lightbulb?”

  33. 33.

    myiq2xu

    January 17, 2008 at 2:44 pm

    I like Steven Wright:

    “I lost my job. Well, I didn’t really lose it, I know where it is, but when I go there someone else is doing it.”

  34. 34.

    sglover

    January 17, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    In the Monty Python “Pantomime Horse” sketch, John Cleese tells the competing horses that they have to fight to the death for their jobs, because there is no “redundancy plan”, i.e., unemployment compensation.

  35. 35.

    myiq2xu

    January 17, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    I got divorced when my wife made me redundant

  36. 36.

    Brachiator

    January 17, 2008 at 2:56 pm

    Wow this veered OT quickly.

    How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

    Ceci n’est pas une pipe…

  37. 37.

    ixeian

    January 17, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    Another euphemism you might want to know about is being RIFd, as in Reduction In Force. That one is, as far as I know, native to the US.

  38. 38.

    Bombadil

    January 17, 2008 at 3:02 pm

    Another euphemism you might want to know about is being RIFd, as in Reduction In Force. That one is, as far as I know, native to the US.

    Years ago, when I was a teacher, the guy who was in charge of notifying people who’d been laid off was named John. Naturally, he became known as “Jack the Riffer”.

  39. 39.

    Scotty

    January 17, 2008 at 3:20 pm

    Darn English. Speak English!

  40. 40.

    Darkness

    January 17, 2008 at 3:30 pm

    redundancy doesn’t necessarily mean someone else has been hired in your place. it could just mean that one of your co-workers now has two jobs, and you’ve got none. this happened to a friend of mine when i was living in australia.

    So in actuality, you were redundant before you were made redundant; it’s just that redundancy is the official recognition of your redundancy.

  41. 41.

    Dennis - SGMM

    January 17, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    I seem to recall, during the flurry of mergers and acquisitions of the early 2000’s, that every deal resulted in layoffs due to redundancies. I guess that everyone who wasn’t laid off was the lucky recipient of another job or two. No wonder productivity soared.

  42. 42.

    Darkness

    January 17, 2008 at 3:36 pm

    Porquin Panko Says:

    In the UK, there’s a strong collocation between the word “redundancy” and “payout” or “payment”. I never noticed the term “downsizing payment” or “downsizing payout” in my 4 years in the US.

    Is it common or not in the US, or is there a different term for this?

    “Severance package” I believe is the term when you had no choice but to go but they feel the need to give you a pat on the bum on the way out. Sometimes they bribe people to leave whom they cannot fire and that would be a “buyout” or a “incentive package” or just “early retirement”

  43. 43.

    Fabian

    January 17, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    “Redundancy” in Australia, (and so I presume England) implies some sort of payout. Being simply sacked, there is no implied payout. Redundant workers are usually given a lump sum, and generally must sign a contract that they won’t apply for their job back for a certain length of time (so they can’t get a lump sum and then just get their old job back straight away)

  44. 44.

    canuckistani

    January 17, 2008 at 3:55 pm

    How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

    One to melt the watch and one to fill the bathtub with brightly coloured machine tools.

  45. 45.

    canuckistani

    January 17, 2008 at 3:56 pm

    Redundancy is a Canadianism as well.

  46. 46.

    zmulls

    January 17, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Wow this veered OT quickly.

    How many surrealists does it take to change a lightbulb?

    A fish.

  47. 47.

    SenderC

    January 17, 2008 at 4:09 pm

    A few years ago a British colleague walked by my cubicle and I saw that he was upset. When I asked what was wrong, he kept repeating “I’ve been sacked.” But not knowing what “sacked” meant, I just kept staring at him. After a few minutes, I was able to put two and two together and offer my condolences. I think that he ended up being more upset at my initial lack of sympathy than his firing.

  48. 48.

    libarbarian

    January 17, 2008 at 4:50 pm

    I just wanted to tell Prof. Cole that Obama transcends redundancy and unemployment.

  49. 49.

    Curious

    January 17, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    If you are made redundant, then you have not been fired. Your job just no longer exists. Thus, the worker is redundant.

    There is usually a payout associated with this, since you haven’t lost your job for negative reasons. The longer your service, the more you get.

    A simple enough concept.

  50. 50.

    Hypatia

    January 17, 2008 at 5:18 pm

    The late Spike Milligan created a character whose occupation was retired redundant.

  51. 51.

    Pixie

    January 17, 2008 at 5:23 pm

    Yeah I was watching the original Office, and it took me a while to figure out that being made redundant = being laid off…I kept sayin “wtfing hell is being redundant??” =P

  52. 52.

    Anne Laurie

    January 18, 2008 at 2:15 am

    For some reason, the term “redundant” gives HR people the collywobbles. They *say* it’s because no fellow human could ever be considered “mere excess”, but I suspect that all HR people secretly consider their field the very metric of Redundancy.

  53. 53.

    bernarda

    January 18, 2008 at 4:48 am

    “redundant” is no more a euphemism than “laid off”. Both imply getting fired for economic reasons rather than an individual fault.

    I would have thought that you read the British press a bit more often. You might consider reading The Guardian America edition. BTW, many uses of the word “redundant” you will find there.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/america

  54. 54.

    Talan Lang

    March 4, 2009 at 8:02 am

    *Inserts botulism into random Chuck Norris meme.*

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