Resource Redeployment

Lenovo has announced a 'resource redeployment' plan - or, in more prosaic terms, a massive layoff of 2,500 employees [that's around 11% of its global workforce]. This type of language has been ridiculed quite recently by FT columnist, Lucy Kellaway. She awarded a 'prize' for the Best Term For Sacking People - one of her favourites was 'Dynamic Rightsizing', which means regular sackings, only more exciting and souped-up. But her winner, was to 'Upgrade', a term apparently used by a firm in the US which said to its sacked employees: "We are going to upgrade you with immediate effect. We are going to allow you to move on in order that you can use your talents and skills more effectively and thus upgrade your career and opportunities".