Employee Turnover Cost Calculator
Calculate the true cost of employee turnover including recruitment, onboarding, lost productivity, and knowledge drain per departure.
Last updated: March 2026
An employee turnover cost calculator reveals the true cost of losing staff, including recruitment, training, and lost productivity. Replacing an employee typically costs 30 to 200% of their annual salary. Use this free tool to quantify turnover impact and justify retention investment.
Cost Per Departure
$24,250
Annual Turnover Cost
$72,750
Cost as % of Salary
44.1%
Lost Productivity Cost
$13,750
How You Compare
Your turnover cost as % of salary is in the bottom 54% of all industries.
Industry typical: 30-200%
Source: SHRM Human Capital Benchmarking Report 2025
💡 What This Means
- 📊 At 44% of salary, your turnover cost is below the 50-200% industry range. This suggests quick replacement and short ramp-up times.
- 💰 Annual turnover costs: $72,750 for 3 departures. Reducing turnover by even 1 person saves $24,250.
- 💡 Lost productivity of $13,750 per departure is the hidden killer. Invest in onboarding, management training, and stay interviews to reduce voluntary turnover.
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What is Employee Turnover Cost?
Employee turnover cost is the total financial impact of an employee leaving, encompassing recruitment, onboarding, training, lost productivity during the vacancy, and reduced output during the new hire's ramp-up period. The true cost is typically 50-200% of the departing employee's annual salary. Plan recruitment with the Recruitment Cost Calculator and track hiring efficiency with the Hiring Speed Calculator.
The Formula
Cost per Departure = Recruitment Cost + Onboarding/Training + Lost Productivity During Vacancy + Lost Productivity During Ramp-Up
The total cost of replacing an employee is typically 50-200% of their annual salary, depending on seniority.
Worked Example
A mid-level employee earning £45,000 leaves. Recruitment costs £8,000, onboarding £3,000, 60-day vacancy, and 90-day ramp-up for the replacement.
- Recruitment = £8,000
- Onboarding/training = £3,000
- Vacancy cost (60 days × £175/day revenue impact) = £10,500
- Ramp-up cost (90 days at 50% productivity × £175/day) = £7,875
- Total = £8,000 + £3,000 + £10,500 + £7,875 = £29,375
📌 Total turnover cost: £29,375 — 65% of the employee's annual salary. With 15% annual turnover in a 50-person company, that's 7-8 departures costing £205,000-235,000/year.
Why This Matters
Retention ROI
A £2,000/year retention investment (training, development, wellness) that prevents one departure saves £29,000. Retention programmes costing £100,000 for 50 employees only need to prevent 3-4 departures to break even.
Knowledge loss
When experienced employees leave, they take institutional knowledge, client relationships, and undocumented processes with them. This "brain drain" is the largest unmeasured cost of turnover — and the hardest to recover.
Common Mistakes
❌ Only counting recruitment fees
Agency fees (£8,000-15,000) are the visible cost. The invisible costs — vacancy impact, team disruption, management time, and new hire ramp-up — are typically 2-3x larger than the recruitment fee alone.
❌ Not conducting exit interviews
Without understanding why people leave, you can't prevent future departures. Patterns in exit data (poor management, no growth path, below-market pay) reveal systemic issues that, once fixed, reduce turnover across the organisation.
Industry Benchmarks
| Category | Good | Average | Poor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual turnover rate | Below 10% | 10-20% | Above 25% |
| Cost per departure as % of salary | Below 50% | 50-100% | Above 150% |
Related Tools
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Use free →Frequently Asked Questions
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