Why do we refer to getting fired as ‘getting the pink slip’?

It's the moment every worker fears: being called into an office (or a Zoom call) and told that your company is making cuts, downsizing, or reorganizing. You’ve been laid off. You’re receiving the pink slip.

The term for being let go has been in use for decades, but did it ever have a literal meaning? Did employers ever hand out actual pink slips to fired employees? And if they did, why the color pink? Why associate bad news with a particular shade?

The Origins of the Pink Slip

According to the lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded use of the term 'pink slip' dates back to 1901, when it referred to insurance companies notifying customers about rate hikes for property coverage. The official rationale for the slip was that companies were assessing a higher risk for a home, though there was some debate as to whether the risk was genuine or merely an excuse to overcharge customers.

In June 1905, The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, reported that insurance agents were unhappy about a 20 percent increase in fire policy rates, concerned that their customers would protest.

'The pink slip should be removed,' one agent commented to the paper. 'It was initially introduced to force the city to build a new water system, and now that the city has moved forward in good faith with this system, the pink slip has served its purpose and should be done away with.'

It's unclear whether 'pink slip' in this case referred to an actual pink piece of paper included with an insurance bill. It could have been an early use of the term as a way to signal something requiring the recipient's immediate attention or to make a document stand out for easy identification.

In the 1930s, the term 'pink slip' also appeared in the realm of tax returns, when such slips disclosed taxpayers' annual salaries minus deductions in a Department of the Treasury report. Taxpayers would receive an actual pink slip to fill out their income details, while a yellow slip was used for income without deductions. (The legislation allowing these disclosures was eventually repealed.)

In the early 1900s, car ownership certificates were printed on pink paper, and having that certificate meant 'owning the pink slip.' While this wasn’t a negative context, it helped further connect pink slips with important matters. For instance, in 1900, The Bryan Press in Bryan, Ohio, sent out subscription bills on pink slips to grab readers' attention.

Pink slips also made their way into education, with misbehaving students in grade schools receiving them for infractions since the early 20th century. A 1985 feature on Miller Elementary in Merrillville, Indiana, reported that receiving more than one pink slip could result in losing recess. After four slips, parents were contacted. They had to sign the slips to confirm receipt.

Clearly, a 'pink slip' signified a document that demanded attention, similar to how important text might be printed in bold. But how did it evolve to signify being fired?

Receiving the Pink Slip

The OED traces the first use of 'pink slip' as a term for termination to a 1904 typographical journal, which warned that 'a revise proof to correct is regarded as a cardinal sin, for a ‘pink slip’ is charged up against the delinquent, and a certain number of these means discharge.' In a 1922 issue of The Roanoke Times, a theater manager was quoted saying any usher 'found' accepting a tip from a patron would be given 'a little pink slip.'

The question remains: Has anyone ever actually been handed a physical 'pink slip,' or did it swiftly evolve into a euphemism from the pink slips seen in the worlds of insurance and income tax?

At least a few employees did receive one. In June 1937, several teachers were laid off from positions under the federal government’s WPA Adult Education Project. According to The Daily News, employees in New York were dismissed in a tense situation, with police present to prevent any civil disobedience or outbursts:

'Women with taut faces marched through a line of guards and up to tables where clerks sat. Some were handed pink slips. They were fired. Others were given yellow buttons. They were hired and ushered through another line of guards to their work.'

The Daily News reported that one worker, recently laid off, demonstrated by attaching his pink slip to his lapel as a sign of protest against the firings.

The article leaves no ambiguity regarding the pink slip's meaning—it was a tangible document held by the laid-off workers, not merely a metaphor. While it's difficult to determine how often this occurred, it clearly shows that the pink slip wasn't always symbolic.

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