natural wastage

"natural wastage" means decrease of workforce caused by non-replacement of retiring or voluntarily resigning employees and not by deliberate layoffs. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.

"natural wastage" is informal English meaning decrease of workforce caused by non-replacement of retiring or voluntarily resigning employees and not by deliberate layoffs. It is mainly heard in British English (and Irish English). A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "decrease of workforce caused by non-replacement of retiring or voluntarily resigning employees and not by deliberate layoffs" expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "natural wastage" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing.