rif

noun

1. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of reduction in force.

   “According to Norman Seay, executive director of Blacks in Government, an organization of federal employees, the RIFs will have the heaviest impact on the professional, managerial, and technical workers — those making between about $20,000 and $37,000 a year.”

   “A lot of the RIFs were done because budgets were cut by the Congress.”

   “The legislators who represented many federal employees, and those on authorizing committees who were sympathetic with the goals of programs they supervised, had reacted with frustration to the RIFs of the early Reagan administration, since there had been no time to oppose them.”

   “A RIF notice received by one FDA employee on Tuesday included performance ratings that were incorrectly low, meaning the severance pay offered was lower than it would be for the ratings they previously received, the employee told CNN.”

   “The Office of Personnel Management regulations for RIFs include details about so-called bumping and retreating rights, which should apply to any agency conducting a reduction in force, said Jenny Mattingley, vice president for government affairs at the Partnership.”

2. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of risk influencing factor.

   “Any measure can be related to the improvement of a RIF, thus the resulting risk reduction can be assessed.”

   “We study helicopter risk by means of the risk influencing model, so the effect of changes is related directly to the RIFs in the model.”

   “Risk Influencing Factor (RIF): A factor or condition that influences the risk.”

3. (abbreviation, alt-of, initialism)Initialism of rock-inhabiting fungi.

   “Although very common, RIF have often been overlooked due to their small size, their slow growth and the lack of diagnostic features.”

   “Among RIF, we chose Penicillium spinulosum and black yeast (BY) that resist chemical attack and anti-microbial treatments[.]”

   “Although the existence of heterotrophic microorganisms on rocks was previously reported (Gromov 1957), it is generally believed that meticulous academic studies of RIF began with Staley et al. (1982), who observed dark microcolonial structures on bare rock surfaces without algae or lichen by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as high rates of physiological activity by respiration detection.”

verb

1. (transitive)To lay off from work due to a reduction in force.

   “Our own agency let go 300 positions, affected 120 people who got RIFed, but 1,200 people were affected in the process.”

   “Federal employees got 'RIFed.' That lasted about six months.”

   “Despite my exemplary service, I got RIFed.” Ginger cringed at the raw sarcasm in his voice, but wanted clarification. “Riffed?” “Reduction in force. Let go, laid off, whatever fits.””

   ““If somebody’s been RIF’ed, they may have the opportunity of moving into another position where they have seniority that is specifically similar to the job that they had before,” Stier said.”

2. (alt-of)Alternative letter-case form of RIF.

   “This sense was expressed in a story about a friend who had been laid off (riffed) in a particularly uncaring manner.”

   “If an employee is not given concrete and objective reasons for being riffed, it may be assumed the decision, "must have been discrimination" due to race, sex, age, ethnic background, or other wrongful basis.”

   “People are being riffed at her company, too.”

name

1. A mountainous region in northern Morocco.
2. A former country in North Africa, a republic which existed briefly during the 1920s in what is now northern Morocco.