But, if a policy is in place that no one will lose their employment over TQM, how can the work force be downsized when process improvement lessens the need for FTEs? The answer is this. Process improvement doesn’t happen overnight. It happens slowly and unevenly throughout an organization. As process improvement happens slowly, there is natural employee attrition. People retire or take jobs elsewhere. There FTEs are not placed. As process improvements where improvement is happening faster are retrained and transferred (at the same salaries) to departments where improvement is happening more slowly. The answer, therefore, to downsizing that results from streamlining processes is natural attrition. And, this answer allows CEOs to sleep better at night because they don’t have to worry about how laid off employees will provide for their families.