Big cheese

Someone who is the highest rank or who has the power to control. 

大物、偉い人

例：The owner is sitting over there, you can go talk to him about getting a table for tonight. He is the big cheese around here.

Unapproachable

Someone who is unfriendly or hard to approach so that other people are less likely to speak to them

（態度や無愛想で）近寄りがたい

例：The CEOS in our company are unapproachable and we feel uncomfortable to bring up issues so that’s the reason we can’t do our best. 

lay-off their employee

the temporary or permanent termination of employment by an employer for reasons unrelated to the employee’s performance

解雇

例：Unfortunately, the company needs to lay-off many employees due to financial issues the company is experiencing at this time.

Spiralling down

a situation in which something continuously decreases or gets worse

転がり落ちる・どんどん状況が悪化する

例：If performance is going down in a company and everyone feels anxious then everything will spiral down which will have terrible consequences for the company.

tense

nervous or worried, and unable to relax

張りつめた、緊張した

例：When a company is in a financial crisis, it becomes stressful and tense to work in this unstable environment.

down in the dumps

Depressed, very sad, unhappy like everyone is feeling in the garbage

落ち込む・意気消沈して・憂鬱になって

例：I was laid-off today, I’m so upset and feel down in the dumps so I won’t be going out anywhere for a while.

bankrupt

to be unable to pay one’s debts.

破産

例：Bankruptcy is one of our options in this financial crisis as everything is spiraling down and we may have to close our doors.  

seasoned employee

someone who has skills and experience in their field.

ベテラン従業員

例：Tom is a seasoned employee, so the CEO wants to get over our company’s financial situation.

drastic

having very big effect and change

思い切った・劇的な・抜本的な

例：We need to do something drastic for our company to survive.

cutthroat

Cutthroat situation is that people or companies involved all want success and do not care if they harm each other in getting it.

とても厳しいビジネス環境

例：If we want a promotion we need to be cut-throat and go after what we want.

I want to get your two cents on…

★two cents = someone’s opinion and ideas

あなたの意見が欲しいです。

例：We need to lay-off our employees to cut down our costs so it would be great to get your two cents on this issue.

happy middle

a good choice or condition that avoids any extremes

（お互いが納得する）妥協案・折衷案

例：This option doesn’t feel right, is there any way we can find a happy middle so we can move forward on a positive note?