Attrition

To lesson or go down relative to its original construct. Example:The harsh and sudden way for a company to cut costs: layoffs. The gentler way? That method is called attrition.
The basic strategy involves slowing down hiring (or freezing it entirely) so that the number of employees leaving through the normal course of business (resignations, retirements, power tool accidents, etc.) outstrips the number of new recruits coming in. Over time, the company's headcount, and presumably its expenses, will drift down.
Imagine that today's headcount is the top of the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, the ideal headcount the company wants to achieve is the bottom. Layoffs represent a jump into the canyon. Attrition is taking the long mule ride down one of those winding paths to the Colorado River.