Performance improvement: the downside to quality improvement (the surplus people problem)

Through the use of total quality management programmes, the industrialised western economies have made great strides in improving quality, reducing waste and increasing productivity. It was our hope that these improvements would recapture our market share, recreating the jobs we lost in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, in many companies, growth in market share has not kept pace with improved productivity. As a result their surplus employee problem continues to grow. This paper discusses how to deal with this situation without massive layoffs.