"In the United States, a furlough (/ˈfɜrloʊ/; from Dutch: verlof, "leave of absence") is a temporary leave of some employees due to special needs of a company, which may be due to economic conditions at the specific employer or in the economy as a whole." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furlough If the writer is US based or worked in the US they may understand that term better.