The phrase "able to lay off" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where someone has the capacity or authority to terminate employment or reduce staff.
Example: "Due to budget cuts, the manager is able to lay off several employees this quarter."
Alternatives: "capable of terminating" or "authorized to dismiss".
Your May 29 news article on the effect of budget cuts on City University history departments states that CUNY's administration "will not be able to lay off tenured faculty". On May 28, the Queens College Retrenchment Plan was made public, and it includes laying off five tenured history professors, most of whom have taught there for 10 years.
"We were able to lay off the change and sit on the fastball".
Drew said he was starting to see the ball better and was able to lay off some tough pitches.
That at-bat, Rodriguez said, set the tone because he was able to lay off a few of James Shields's lethal changeups.
Under the proposed plan, the city would be able to lay off teachers based on where they stood on nine often-confusing factors.
Until now, the government has not been able to lay off civil servants, whose employment rights are in effect constitutionally guaranteed.
He appealed to the Thatcher government for aid, arguing the money was needed if British Leyland was going to be able to afford to lay off workers while investing in new models.
"We had the rally, and then all of the sudden they were able to abandon the plan to lay off... " Still, the district has the cuts on the negotiating table, although they have a balanced tentative budget without it, Mancina said.
"Some small-scale firms will not be able to survive and they will have to lay off the workers from their jobs," Mr. Wijetilleke said.
Before the housing market collapsed in 2007, many mortgage originators made reckless loans, in part because they were able to quickly sell them to other investors to lay off the risk.
But job losses have continued, because growth has been slow enough that companies have been able to expand by becoming more efficient while continuing to lay off employees.
