dumbsizing
(DUM.sy.zing)
pp.
Reducing the size of a company's workforce to such an extent that the company becomes unprofitable or inefficient. Also: dumb-size. —dumbsizev. —dumbsizern.
Example Citation:
"Granted, companies became lean and nimble, but excessive chopping in many cases led to the corporate equivalent of anorexia. In peak periods, companies have been forced to out-source work, often, ironically, for a premium to their own laid-off employees—you know, the ones with the training and expertise to do the job. Downsizing, meet 'dumbsizing.'"
—Martha Groves, "Downsizing Wave Has Reached a Point of Diminishing Returns," The Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1996
Earliest Citation:
We thought you'd want to know that for 1993 Indians are in and cowboys are out; blame is in and responsibility out, and dumbsizing is in and downsizing out. Or, so it says in something called "The Trends Journal: The Authority on Trend Management."
—James A. Finefrock, "Trends in Trends," San Francisco Examiner, December 23, 1992
