CAREERCHANGE OPPORTUNITY

n.

A euphemism for being laid off.

At one large Madison firm, for example, an office grunt actually saves jargon-laden company memos and waits for an appropriate 'Dilbert' cartoon to match. When one appears, he clips the cartoon, staples it to the memo and sends it back to where it came; anonymously of course, to avoid becoming a candidate for the company's 'career-change opportunity program.'

—Mike Ivey, "Mad about Dilbert," Capital Times, August 28, 1996

Clifford of Vermont gave 15 employees the heave-ho. The president of the company explained to a local newspaper, 'This was not a cutback nor a layoff. It was a career-change opportunity.'

—Leah Garchik, "Personals," The San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 1990

Layoffs and Firings

Euphemisms