Dear Itasan
In BrE,
attrition n. =
abrasion, the act or process of wearing out, especially by friction.
We do not use
'attrition' to describe the situation of a diminishing number of employees caused by not replacing staff who have left.
A common business BrE expression comparable to AmE '
attrition' is "
natural wastage", defined as
loss of employees other than by redundancy.
Here is an example of this usage in an official publication....
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"Staff Reduction Policy:
• In the first instance should natural wastage occur in areas of the University where staff reduction might be needed, every effort will be made to manage those areas so that the wastage
should remove the need for any other reduction.
• Subject to ensuring
the effective continuation of the University's work, the University
will seek across the institution, through management, redeployment and
retraining, to use natural wastage to minimise or remove any need for other severance." (Portsmouth University, England)
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