From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishshort timeshort timeBritish English when workers work for fewer hours than usual, because the company cannot afford to pay them their full wage Most of the workers were put on short time. → short
Examples from the Corpus
short time• In this way a carcass can draw vultures from far away in a short time.• One year is a very short time.• Just a short time ago the forest was impenetrable ... and safe.• Employees may try working at the new location for a short time and then decide not to continue.• Now that he's on short time he's doing more round the house.• Police arrested a male juvenile a short time later.• The forest has reclaimed the fields even in this short time since I was last there. 