You found our list of important employee turnover statistics.
Employee turnover statistics are figures relating to workers leaving jobs. This data comes from polls, surveys, and studies conducted by reputable institutions. The purpose of this information is to help employers understand the reasons behind resignations and to improve employee retention. These figures are also commonly referred to as job turnover statistics and The Great Resignation statistics.
An understanding of the reasons for employee turnover, staff attrition and quiet quitting can give more context to these numbers. To combat this crisis, use employee retention strategies.
Here are the facts.
List of employee turnover statistics [free to cite]
You can use this data in any format, including social media, blogs, and presentations.
Please cite the source as TeamBuilding and link to https://teambuilding.com/blog/employee-turnover-statistics.
1. Replacing an employee can be 2x as expensive as keeping one
The cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one and a half to two times that team member’s annual salary, Gallup claims.
As of 2016, the SHRM factored the average cost of new hire alone to be around $4,100. Add related costs such as training and onboarding, team development, skill gaps, and productivity and opportunity cost, and that number swells dramatically.
The numbers show that retaining employees tends to be the move most often in employers’ financial interests.
2. 52% of all voluntary resignations are preventable
According to the same Gallup poll from above, 52% of employees who decided to leave jobs claim that managers could have taken actions to prevent the departure. Specifically, those respondents explained that in the months leading up to the decision, leaders never asked these employees about their satisfaction with the job nor spoke about the team member’s future with the company.
For conversation inspiration, here is a list of check-in questions.
3. Resignations are at a record high of 3% (4.5 million)
In November 2021, quitting statistics rose to an all-time high of 4.5 million according to a report from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 4 million in July 2021. This figure puts the quit rate at 3%, and voluntary resignations count for over ⅔ of the total separations.
The industries most affected were accommodation and food services, health and hospitality, and transportation, warehousing, and utilities. Mass departures in these areas are not particularly surprising given the pressures put on these fields during the pandemic, however an uptick in quitting has touched many industries. The end of 2021 did not bring an end to “The Great Resignation.”
4. Mid-career employees are the group with the highest spike in resignations– up 20%
Historically, turnover tends to be highest among entry-level employees. One might assume that resignations would climb highest among early-career employees, however a study from Harvard Business Review found that the rate of resignation actually decreased among younger employees (under 25) in 2020. The age group with the greatest increase in turnover was the 30 to 45 demographic. Rates slightly rose for the 25 to 30 and 45 to 60 groups as well, and dropped for the 60 to 70 sections.
5. 1 in 4 employees quit jobs due to a desire to work from home
Of the respondents who left jobs during the pandemic, approximately 24% cited the ability to work away from the office as a main factor, a Conference Board survey found. Better pay and career advancement were the two main drivers, yet these conditions have influenced job hopping for decades. Demands for remote work options have become more powerful motivators in the past few years. Survey insights show that this shift is due not only to fears of exposure to illness, but also for the improvement in life and work life balance afforded to employees through WFH.
Perhaps most surprising, the Boomer generation quit for the ability to work remotely at almost twice the rate of any other working generation.
Check out this guide to remote work, and this list of pros and cons to WFH.
6. 50% workers would rather quit their jobs than return to the office prematurely
Findings from a poll by Morning Consult on behalf of Bloomberg show that half of surveyed employees would resign rather than be forced to return to an office under unsafe or uncertain conditions. That same study found that as of September 2021, around 6 in 10 employees felt comfortable working in an office, and 81% enjoyed working from home.
Echoing this notion, a separate survey from GoodHire found that 45% of US respondents would immediately quit or start a search for remote work if notified that they were expected to suddenly return to the office full-time.
7. Employees are 12x likelier to leave due to perceived barriers to career growth
Training, professional development, and opportunities for advancement are critical components of job satisfaction. A report from IBM found that professionals who felt that their career goals were unlikely to be met at their current organization were twelve times likelier to consider a job switch than employees who felt secure in their potential for career growth at their company.
8. 31% of workers have quit a job within the first six months
A 1,000 person survey from BambooHR found that 31% of respondents had left a new job within the first six months. In fact, the month by month breakdown of this number was between 16-17% respectively in each of the first three months. Some of the top reasons mentioned for leaving quickly was the work being different than expected, bad bosses, and a lack of training. The majority of new hires– approximately one third– expected management to take the lead on new hire education.
9. Onboarding can improve retention by 82%
An employee’s first months with the company can determine the lifespan of their total time with the company. Research done by the Brandon Hall Group shows that organizations with a positive onboarding experience increase new hire retention by 82% and improve new employee’s productivity by 70%.
Here is a guide to doing onboarding virtually.
10. 25% of workers quit jobs in 2021– and over twice that number sought out new work
Data analytics firm Visier uncovered that one in four workers quit jobs in 2021, meaning a quarter of the workforce voluntarily resigned within the year. Even more harrowing, a forecast from PwC has previously revealed that 65% of workers were actively looking for a new job in August of 2021.
11. Nearly 50% of Black and Hispanic employees have quit a job due to discrimination
A roundup of recruiting facts from Glassdoor reveals that close to 50% – specifically, 47% of Black and 49% of Hispanic job searchers – have left a job in the past after witnessing or experiencing discrimination or harassment in the workplace. For comparison, white job seekers cited this reason for leaving a job at 38%.
The same report found that around 70% of Black and Hispanic employees feel that their employer should be doing more to foster inclusion and increase diversity in the workforce.
For tips on improving the experiences of diverse employees, check out this list of books on equity and inclusion.
12. Bad managers cost the economy over $223 billion dollars
A recent study from SHRM found that 58% of employees who left a job because of poor company culture cited management as the main factor in that decision. The report pointed towards behaviors such as poor communication, lack of listening, failure to enforce accountability, and unclear expectations as common causes of worker dissatisfaction. SHRM estimates that the combined cost of this turnover over a five year period totals around $223 billion dollars.
Here are the warning signs of bad management.
13. Only 16% of employees are fully satisfied with employers’ response to staff feedback
A study from the Achievers Workforce Institute found that 60% of respondents had been approached by employers in the previous year for feedback on the employee experience. Of that number, 18% of workers reported that management was terrible at acting on concerns in meaningful ways, and 34% said that employers were ‘just ok’ at responding to the feedback. Only 16% of employees claimed that managers always took action on their feedback.
Achievers urged employers to avoid “inaction fatigue,” claiming that if management regularly solicited yet failed to act upon feedback, then employees would stop responding to surveys. When employee concerns are not implemented, or, at the very least, discussed, then the likelihood is high that those employees would feel unheard and devalued, become disengaged, and eventually start seeking new opportunities.
Check out this list of employee engagement survey questions for inspiration on how to get valuable insight from employees.
14. Approximately 34% of employees feel underappreciated by superiors
The 2021 Engagement and Retention report from Achievers found that 34% of employees do not feel valued by superiors at work, with 43% of that subsection belonging to Gen Z. In that same survey, employee recognition was listed as one of the main reasons to stay at a job. A significant 21% of respondents said that being recognized for their work was a main motivator for staying in a current role. Work-life balance was the only condition that ranked higher, with a comparable 23%.
Recognition is a large factor in employee engagement and retention. One example of staff recognition is employee of the month programs.
15. 94% of employees would stay longer with employers who helped them learn
Professional development is an increasingly important factor in career choice. According to a recent LinkedIn Learning Report, 94% of respondents would remain in a role for a longer period of time with companies who invested in staff development such as career coaching, training, and education opportunities.
How to cite these employee turnover statistics
If you use data or statistics from this resource or re-share the infographic, please include a link to https://teambuilding.com/blog/employee-turnover-statistics.
We will continue updating this resource with useful remote work statistics, facts, and trends.
Next, check out this list of statistics on quiet quitting, this list of statistics on remote work, these employee engagement statistics, and these statistics on job satisfaction.
Angela Robinson