RumPunch, remember what happened with the peace dividend in 1992. Whole trade groups (well part of them like Sim Techs) were made redundant even when they were employed operationally as E3 Techs. There were strong reasons why newly trained personnel in an essential job should have been allowed to remain in post, but there was no quarter and they were gone in a flash.
What you are saying is that there is no salami left to slice. I suspect that you are looking to lose a slice of the bread instead.