49+ Employee Turnover Statistics and Trends [2025]

November 9, 2023 0 Comments

Why do employees quit their jobs?

Is it because they got a better offer, or are they just unhappy with their current roles?

Whatever the answer is, voluntary employee turnover costs US industries $1 trillion.

More than 4 million US employees quit their jobs each year.

Understanding why employees leave can help organizations improve their retention efforts

Here are some employee turnover statistics to help you gain more insight into this pressing problem:

Top Employee Turnover Statistics: Editor’s Pick

  1. The average turnover rate in the US between 2022 and 2023 was 17.3%. [1]
  2. SMBs have a higher turnover rate than larger organizations. [2]
  3. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of total separations in 2023 was 5.7 million in August. [3]
  4. Finding and hiring a replacement costs about 33% of an employee’s annual salary. [4]
  5. BambooHR’s report states that 31% of people quit their jobs in the first six months. [5]
  6. Around 60-70% of all turnover is voluntary. [6]
  7. In 2020, about 2.8 million people in the US quit their jobs to start their own businesses. [7]
  8. Over 1 in 4 US jobs stay unfilled after two months. [8]
  9. Compensation is the top reason why Millennials and Gen Zs left a role in the last two years. [9]
  10. 75% of the C-suite are considering quitting for a job that would better support their well-being. [10]
Voluntary employee turnover costs industries in the US $1 trillion

General Employee Turnover Statistics

Employees are leaving their jobs at a record pace, with 4.2 million quitting each month in the US. This is costing companies billions of dollars in lost productivity and recruitment costs.

Here are some general employee turnover statistics:

How many job openings are currently in the US?

By the end of August 2023, there were 9.61 million job openings in the United States. This was almost 0.69 million more than the previous months. [11]

What’s the average number of years a person stays in their job?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, an employee stays with the same organization for about 4.1 years. [12]

However, this number varies depending on many factors, including industry, age, and experience. For example, workers in the public sector tend to stay in their jobs longer than workers in the private sector.

About 30% of people quit their jobs in the first three months [13]

A third of employees leave their jobs in the first 60 days.

16% of workers quit within the first week of their employment. [14]

17% leave their companies in the first month of their onboarding. 

This shows that if the onboarding experience isn’t great, employees are more likely to leave the organization.

How did the pandemic affect turnover rates?

Before COVID-19, there were about 3.5 million people quitting their jobs. However, the number dropped to 1.9 million in April 2020. [15

According to SHRM, during the pandemic, employee churn rates reached their lowest level in nine years.

63% of small businesses claim retaining employees is harder than hiring them [16]

Small businesses find it challenging to retain employees because of a number of factors, including:

  • Limited resources
  • Heavy workload
  • Lack of structure 

Turnover Statistics by Demography

Employee turnover rates vary based on demographic groups, such as age, gender, race, and ethnicity.

Understanding these trends can help businesses develop targeted retention strategies.

Turnover Statistics by Industry

turnover rate by industry

The turnover rate is 74% in the hospitality sector, making it the industry with the highest turnover rate. [17]

The retail sector has the second-highest turnover rate (61%).

Seasonal demand, fluctuating working hours, limited growth opportunities, and lower wages are some of the factors that drive turnover in the hospitality and retail sectors.

Check out the churn rates across different industries: 

IndustryTurnover Rate
Hospitality 74%
Retail Sector61%
Construction57%
Transportation, Trade, and Utilities55%
Manufacturing40%
E-Commerce29%
IT25%
Financial Services25%
Healthcare21%
Entertainment19%
Advertising18%
Engineering14%
Automobile 12%
Oil and Gas 12%

Turnover is lowest in government organizations, at 8%.

Turnover rate by age

The average tenure of baby boomers is about 10 years. [18]

Gen Z employees don’t work with the same organization for more than 1.2 years

Here is the breakdown of average tenures among different age groups:

AgeMedian Tenure (Years)
20-241.2
25-342.8
35-444.7
45-546.9
55-649.8
65 years and over10

Turnover rate by gender and ethnicity

On average, men have longer tenures than women.

28% of male employees have a tenure of more than 10 years, as opposed to 26% of female employees. [12]

In 2022, men worked with the same employer for about 4.3 years, while women had a tenure of 3.8 years.

What is the impact of ethnicity on tenure? Find out through this table:

Ethnicity % Of People with a Tenure of 10 Years
White 28%
Black24%
Asians22%
Hispanics21%

How Much Does Employee Turnover Cost a Company?

replacing an employee can cost employers about $4100

According to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, the average cost of replacing an employee is $4,129. This includes the cost of hiring and training a new employee, as well as the lost productivity.

The breakdown of turnover costs includes,

Hiring costs: Hiring a new employee costs about $4700. This amount might vary depending on the signing bonus and relocation charges. [19]

Training costs: Training costs can amount to $986. [20]

Time to full productivity: If it takes three months to fully onboard a new employee, the cost is 25% of their annual pay. If it’s six months, it can cost the company 50% of the employee’s annual pay.

Temporary employees and overtime: Hiring temps or the overtime of existing employees is also part of turnover costs.

Why Do People Quit Their Jobs?

top causes of turnover
  • 56% of people say unclear job responsibilities would cause them to walk away from an opportunity.
  • 46% of workers feel less connected to their company. [15]
  • According to McKinsey and Company, 41% of people quit their jobs due to a lack of career development and advancement. [7]
  • 35% of employees switch jobs for better compensation and benefits. [15]
  • 34% exit their companies because of uninspiring leaders. [7]
  • 31% move on because of a lack of meaningful work. [7]
  • 29% quit due to unsustainable work expectations. [7]
  • Unreliable coworkers and lack of flexibility are why 26% leave their companies. [7]
  • Lack of support for health and well-being makes more than 25% of employees quit.
  • 25% leave their roles because of a lack of work-life balance. [7]
  • 14% of workers quit due to a non-inclusive community. [7]
  • 13% quit because of unsafe work environments. [7]

What Can Employers Do to Retain Employees?

66% of employees are waiting to review their company’s new benefit offerings before deciding whether to stay.

42% of organizations that saw high turnover in early 2021 implemented remote work or flexibility options to reduce turnover. [21]

42% of employees with access to mental health benefits are more likely to stay at their current organization. 

Effective onboarding makes new hires feel 18 times more committed to their employers. [22]

Employers who received a highly effective offer letter were 17 times more likely to feel emotionally connected to their organization. [22]

highly-engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week

Highly engaged workers stay in their jobs longer than unengaged ones. 

A survey by Officevibe states that 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week. [23]

FAQs about Employee Turnover

What is employee turnover?

Employee turnover is the percentage of employees who leave a company during a particular time period. It is a key metric for measuring employee engagement and satisfaction.

What can employers do to reduce employee turnover?

Employers can reduce employee turnover by investing in retention strategies, such as:

  1. Offering competitive salaries and benefits
  2. Providing opportunities for professional development and advancement
  3. Creating a positive and supportive work environment
  4. Getting regular feedback from employees and addressing their concerns

How do I calculate employee turnover?

Turnover is calculated by dividing the number of employees who left in a year by the average number of employees at the beginning of the year. The number is then multiplied by 100 to get the percentage.

Let’s look at an example: At the start of a year, there are 100 employees in a company. During this year, 5 employees left and 20 joined. At the end of this period, there would be 115 people working in the organization.

However, when calculating turnover, new hires are not taken into account. We only consider the average number of employees who were with the company at the start of the year. So in this case, turnover would be 5%.

How do you retain top performers?

Employers can retain top talent by:

  1. Offering competitive salaries and benefits
  2. Providing opportunities for professional development and advancement
  3. Creating a positive and supportive work environment
  4. Recognizing and rewarding employees for their accomplishments
  5. Investing in employee well-being
  6. Building a strong company culture

What are the best practices for onboarding new employees?

Employers should have a clear onboarding plan in place. It can include:

  1. Welcoming new employees and introducing them to their team members
  2. Providing new employees with the information and resources they need to succeed in their roles
  3. Setting clear expectations and goals
  4. Checking in with new employees regularly to see how they are doing and to address any concerns 

Summary

Employee turnover is a serious problem for businesses of all sizes. It can have a significant impact on productivity, profitability, and culture.

The good news is that there are a number of things that employers can do to reduce employee turnover. Learning the latest employee statistics can help organizations invest in retention strategies. 

Check out our website for more statistics and trends on various topics.

Sources

  1. PR Newswire. 2023 WEM Report Reveals 71% of Organizations are Challenged with Employee Turnover and Early Attrition
  2. LinkedIn. Industries with the Highest (and Lowest) Turnover Rates
  3.  US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job Openings and Labor Turnover Summary
  4. Indeed. Estimating the Cost of High Employee Turnover
  5. LinkedIn. Why Are Your Employees Leaving in the First Six Months?
  6. Forbes. Why Are Employees Leaving? The Economy Is Only Part Of The Reason
  7. McKinsey & Company. The Great Attrition is making hiring harder. Are you searching the right talent pools?
  8. FlexJobs. Why a Quarter of U.S. Jobs Remain Unfilled for More Than 60 Days
  9. Deloitte. Striving for balance, advocating for change
  10. Deloitte. As workforce well-being dips, leaders ask: What will it take to move the needle?
  11. Statista. Monthly job openings in the United States from August 2021 to August 2023
  12. US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employee Tenure in 2022
  13. LinkedIn. Boost Your Employee Retention in the First 90 Days!
  14. Employee Cycle. What is Voluntary Employee Turnover?
  15. SHRM. Turnover ‘Tsunami’ Expected Once Pandemic Ends
  16. Zenefits. Research: Employee Retention a Bigger Problem Than Hiring for Small Businesses?
  17. Engagedly. Employee Turnover Rate By Industry
  18.  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Table 1. Median years of tenure with current employer for employed wage and salary workers by age and sex, selected years, 2012-2022
  19. SHRM. The Real Costs of Recruitment
  20. Training Mag. 2018 Training Industry Report
  21. SHRM. What benefits can employers offer to improve employee retention?
  22. BambooHR. These 10+ Onboarding Statistics Reveal What New Employees Really Want in 2023
  23. Officevibe. Statistics on the importance of employee feedback

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