How much does employee turnover cost?

Between 50 and 200 percent of the departing person's annual salary, per SHRM and Gallup, depending on the role. Frontline roles are near the low end, leaders near the high end. Across the US, turnover is estimated to cost about a trillion dollars a year.

How do I calculate retention savings?

Count the departures you would avoid by moving from your current turnover rate to a lower target, then multiply by the cost to replace one person. This tool does both and shows the annual figure.

What is a good employee turnover rate?

It depends on the industry, but under about 10 percent is generally low, 10 to 20 percent is typical, and above 20 percent is high. Some turnover is healthy, so the goal is a stable rate rather than zero.

How much can I save by reducing turnover?

It depends on your size, pay, and how far you cut the rate. For many employers even a few points is worth tens or hundreds of thousands a year, since the saving repeats each year the lower rate holds.

No. It is a planning estimate built on published replacement-cost ranges. The right replacement cost depends on your roles, and the savings assume you reach the lower rate.

Free HR calculator

Retention Savings Calculator

Keeping people is cheaper than replacing them. This shows what lowering your turnover is worth: how many departures you would avoid at a target rate, what each one costs to replace, and the annual savings. It turns a retention goal into a dollar figure you can put behind the investment.

Your turnover

Enter your team size, your current and target turnover, and the pay for the roles.

Employees

ppl

Average headcount.

Average salary

For the roles that turn over.

Current turnover

Annual rate now.

Target turnover

The rate you aim for.

Replacement cost

Cost to replace one person as a share of their salary

Replacement runs 50% to 200% of salary by role: roughly 40% for frontline work, 80% for professionals, and up to 200% for leaders. It covers recruiting, onboarding, and the ramp to full productivity. 75% is a reasonable middle for a general workforce.

Annual retention savings

$0per year

Departures avoided

Cost per departure

turnover

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The math

This is an estimate, so set the replacement cost to your roles. A frontline departure costs far less than a specialist or leader, so a single percentage across very different roles is rough. The savings are also a ceiling: reaching a lower turnover rate takes real effort, and not every exit is preventable.

Cost your turnover in full

The in-depth Turnover Cost Excel breaks the replacement cost into its parts, prices the time of everyone involved, and gives you a board-ready figure to set retention spending against.

Get the Excel version

How retention savings work

Every person who leaves and has to be replaced carries a cost: recruiting, onboarding, and the weeks or months before the next hire is fully up to speed. Lower your turnover rate and you avoid some of those replacements, and the money you would have spent becomes savings. This tool compares your current turnover to a target, counts the departures you would avoid, and multiplies by what each one costs.

What a replacement costs

Research from SHRM and Gallup puts the cost of replacing an employee at 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on the role. Frontline positions sit near 40%, professional and technical roles around 80% to 100%, and managers or leaders as high as 200%. The figure covers the visible costs of hiring plus the harder-to-see losses in productivity and knowledge while the seat is empty and the new person ramps.

What counts as good turnover

It varies by industry, but a common reference point is that turnover under about 10% is low, the 10% to 20% band is typical for many employers, and above 20% is high enough to be worth a hard look. Some turnover is healthy and unavoidable. The useful target is not zero, but a rate that keeps your teams stable without overspending to hold people who would move on anyway.

Turning the goal into a number

Retention work competes for budget like anything else, so it helps to size the prize. If cutting turnover by a few points saves six figures a year, a manager-training program or a pay adjustment starts to look like an investment rather than a cost. Because the saving repeats every year the lower rate holds, even a modest improvement compounds. Treat the result as the upper bound and weigh it against what the improvement will take.

How much does employee turnover cost?: Between 50% and 200% of the departing person’s annual salary, per SHRM and Gallup, depending on the role. Frontline roles are near the low end, leaders near the high end. Across the US, turnover is estimated to cost about a trillion dollars a year.
How do I calculate retention savings?: Count the departures you would avoid by moving from your current turnover rate to a lower target, then multiply by the cost to replace one person. This tool does both and shows the annual figure.
What is a good employee turnover rate?: It depends on the industry, but under about 10% is generally low, 10% to 20% is typical, and above 20% is high. Some turnover is healthy, so the goal is a stable rate rather than zero.
How much can I save by reducing turnover?: It depends on your size, pay, and how far you cut the rate. For many employers even a few points is worth tens or hundreds of thousands a year, since the saving repeats each year the lower rate holds.
Is this HR advice?: No. It is a planning estimate built on published replacement-cost ranges. The right replacement cost depends on your roles, and the savings assume you reach the lower rate.

Replacement cost varies widely by role, and the savings shown assume you reach and hold the lower turnover rate, which takes sustained effort. Confirm the figures for your situation.