Is it said differently in some regions?
In Mexico, you may hear Me liquidaron to mean "They gave me a severance package". In Argentina, Me rajaron means "They fired me" and in Spain, Me despidieron is used to mean "They dismissed me". There are also informal ways to express job loss: Me quedé sin chamba means "I'm out of a job", Me echaron del trabajo means "They kicked me out of work" and Me dejaron sin curro means "They left me without a job".
How does it change in a sentence?
The form must agree in gender with the person being laid off: use despedida for a female employee. Use the masculine plural form despedidos when referring to a group of male employees or a mixed-gender group. To express the passive state of being laid off, use the construction ser despedido.
How do you pronounce it?
/despedido/
Did you know?
- The word despedido comes from despedir, which also means 'to say goodbye'. In a literal sense, being laid off is like being 'said goodbye' to by your employer.
- In Argentina, the slang term rajaron for being fired or laid off can actually be traced back to the act of 'cracking' or 'splitting' something. It implies a sudden, forceful removal from a position.
- In many Spanish-speaking countries, you might hear someone say they were liquidado to mean they were laid off. This comes from the concept of a 'liquidation' of a contract or a company, implying the final settlement of all debts and severance.
Examples in context
- Muchos empleados han sido despedidos.A lot of employees have been laid off.This sentence uses despedido to show a group of employees who have been laid off.Tatoeba #9421163 by ignacio, translation #13546137 by araneo
- Fui despedido de mi trabajo debido a recortes presupuestarios.I was laid off from my job due to budget cutbacks.This sentence uses despedido to explain being laid off due to budget cutbacks.Tatoeba #5831816 by albrusgher, translation #5712928 by CK
- Muchos empleados tuvieron que ser despedidos debido a recortes presupuestarios.Many employees had to be laid off due to budget cutbacks.This sentence uses despedido to show that employees had to be laid off because of budget cutbacks.Tatoeba #5831815 by albrusgher, translation #5712925 by CK
- Ayer, me despidieron de mi trabajoYesterday, I was laid off from my job
- Me despidieron por reducción de personalI was laid off due to staff reduction
- 4 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Elena and Javier are talking at a coffee shop about their work situation.
- Elena¿Supiste que Juan fue despedido hoy?Did you hear that Juan was laid off today?
- JavierNo, no lo sabía. Qué mala noticia.No, I didn't know. That's bad news.
- ElenaEs que hubo muchos recortes en la empresa.It is just that there were many cuts in the company.
- JavierPobre Juan, espero que encuentre algo pronto.Poor Juan, I hope he finds something soon.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
