Outplacement

Definition

A service provided to laid-off employees to help find new jobs, often described as generous while amounting to mostly LinkedIn profile coaching.

Example Usage

My severance included three months of outplacement, which amounted to someone checking my LinkedIn headlines.

Origin

Developed in the 1980s as a more humane alternative to just firing people

Fun Fact

Expensive outplacement programs correlate poorly with actual job placement rates.

Source: Severance and transition services

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terminated

The HR euphemism for firing someone that sounds vaguely threatening, like something Arnold Schwarzenegger would say before shooting a robot. Companies use this word because apparently 'fired' sounds too honest and 'let go' makes it sound like you're releasing a butterfly into the wild. When your employment is terminated, you're technically ended, ceased, and discontinued—which is exactly how your career feels in that moment.

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job family

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wage

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