downsizing

American  

[doun-sahy-zing] / ˈdaʊnˌsaɪ zɪŋ /

noun

1. the act or process of reducing the number of something, such as employees or participants, usually as a cost-cutting measure.

   The company’s downsizing eliminated approximately 39% of all executive positions.

2. the act or process of replacing something larger with something smaller, such as moving into a smaller house.

   With the housing market in shambles, it would be difficult to sell our house, so downsizing is not really an option right now.

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Etymology

Origin of downsizing

downsiz(e) ( def. ) + -ing ¹ ( def. )

Example Sentences

He added that others are "downsizing and conserving capital to extend their runway".

From Barron's

After pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into U.S. manufacturing, they are downsizing investments, canceling projects and pivoting plants to support making more traditional gas-powered vehicles.

From The Wall Street Journal

Breuer was part of a generation of officers whose mission was often to make do with less, focusing on “downsizing and making things more efficient,” he says, “not more effective.”

From The Wall Street Journal

The job cuts and restructuring add to the workforce reductions that started last October, when the firm announced its first major downsizing in a decade.

From BBC

Now contemplating downsizing, they wanted to tackle the clutter of things accumulated over decades with their two children, Katie and Simon.

From BBC