在高度竞争的环境中，组织员额精简（Downsizing）被公、私部门广为运用，是组织重组、提高绩效、减少开支与降低成本最有效的管理方式。

组织员额精简系指组织有计划地裁减组织中的职位及工作，又可称为「减肥措施」（To Cut Out the Fat）或「整简」（To Get Lean and Mean），其类似说法有「有效缩减组织人力」（Reduction in Force）、「缩减人事甄选」（Deselecting）、「改善精简」（Resizing）、「减少引进新进人员」（Derecruiting）等。

Layoff (in British and American English), is the temporary suspension or permanent termination of employment of an employee or (more commonly) a group of employees (collective layoff) for business reasons, such as when certain positions are no longer necessary or when a business slow-down occurs. In the UK, permanent termination due to elimination of a position is usually called redundancy.