A ploy that Spot has used numerous times since I've been with them: When an ETL or STL is leaving or gone, they bring in a new person to "train" or "assist" the store until a new replacement is hired and installed. A lot of the time that "ETL trainee" or "ETL assistant" is in fact the replacement brought in on the DL to observe how the TMs perform and the store operates so they can decide what changes need to be made in operations or personnel. My store is going through this currently.