What does "downsize" mean?

[MillerJoe]

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #47 "You have to go", question 7

The firm has decided to ......... which means they don't want me.

(a) resize
(b) upsize
(c) in size
(d) downsize

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #47 "You have to go", answer 7

The firm has decided to downsize which means they don't want me.

Correct answer: (d) downsize
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i need an explination please!

MillerJoe

[Alan]

Hi,

This means 'reduce the number of employees in the firm'.

Alan
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English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Present Simple

[Yankee]

I assume the "oddness" of some of the expressions in this test is due to the fact that it is "very British". There are a number of things that would basically not be used in American English. (The word downsize, however, appears to be used both in North America as well as in the UK nowadays.)

For your convenience, I have made some notes about how you could say some things in this test more naturally in American English.
BE = British English (presumably), AmE = American English

1. BE: My job has gone because my boss has fired me.
AmE: My job is gone because my boss fired me.

2. BE: I shan't be working tomorrow...
AmE: I won't be working tomorrow...

4. BE: I was handed my papers yesterday ...
AmE: I was handed my walking papers yesterday / I was pink-slipped yesterday...

6. BE: I have been made redundant ...
AmE: I was laid off

8. BE: "be surplus to requirements"
AmE: "be excess baggage" or "be nonessential"
.
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln

[Lost_Soul]

From this I can conclude that BE is more formal than AmE.
(in BE, you're getting at the main point using tricky, complicated words, like be surplus to requirements, but in the US, you just stun a man that he's become excess baggage :))

[Yankee]

Hi LS

I'm not sure whether "surplus to requirements" is used primarily in business in the UK or not. It would likely be understood in AmE, but not as a widely used buzzword. However, there are also lots of buzzwords and euphemisms used in American business, the actual meanings of which can be pretty obscure to the outsider: aggressive accounting, boiling the ocean, face time, etc.

The word "downsize" is also a euphemism. However, some business people have now apparently decided that "downsize" is also too negative to be an "acceptable" euphemism. After downsizing became well known, people began referring to "rightsizing" and "smartsizing" and "reinventing", etc. These words also mean that the company is going to reduce its headcount (i.e. lay people off).

Lower level business people often get frustrated with the all the buzzwords used by their bosses and have been known to resort to games:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buzzword_bingo
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"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." ~ Abraham Lincoln