SHAKEOUT

[noun] [C] - a situation in which people lose their jobs, or companies stop doing business, because of economic difficultiesIn a continuing shakeout, two more newspapers have been forced to close.The shakeout in the labour market after Christmas usually makes January a bad month for unemployment.The merger of the two companies is likely to produce a shakeout of staff.This is not a shakeout of inefficient organizations, but a case of good companies being unable to survive any longer in a harsh economic climate.