Employers find it difficult to say to their employees that their services are no longer required. At the same time, employees have the same feelings upon hearing the news of losing their job. This situation is reflected in the language used under those unpleasant circumstances. For example, employers break it gently to certain staff members that they will be made redundant as a consequence of reduction in the scope of business. Redundancy simply reflects the sad fact that employees are no longer needed without implying that the termination of the job was anyone’s fault. The similar situation, when someone stops employing someone because there is no money to pay them or because there is no work for them to do is referred to as a layoff, the word with a similar meaning to redundancy.
In case of their misconduct, employees may be dismissed, fired or sacked with dismissed being the most formal and sacked the least formal expression. Dismissal is removal from the job because an employee has done something wrong. Fired is a more neutral word implying removal from the job, either because employees have done something wrong or bad, or as a way of saving the cost of employing them.
When employees decide to leave of their own free will, they turn in their notice in which they formally inform their employer of their intention to leave the job. This leaving a job is also referred to as resigning or quitting. The first two expressions are reserved for formal, unemotional situations while quitting would be reserved for a conversation with friends.
After a notice period has expired, people will hopefully be employed with a new company. Human Resources departments are anyway constantly on the lookout for new recruits or simply new members for their organizations. To that end, they can sometimes engage head-hunting agencies that actively search for new high-level personnel, often from rival companies as a part of their recruitment process.
If the economy functions well, there is no reason to fear the vocabulary having to do with hiring and firing. However, in the present situation it is best to exercise caution and use neutral language.
