“Turnover is expensive” is something everyone says and nobody calculates. So let’s calculate it. Replacing a single $50,000 employee typically costs $25,000–$100,000 once you count recruiting, training, and lost productivity. If you’re losing 5 people a year, that’s a six-figure problem hiding in plain sight.
The real cost breakdown
- Separation costs (exit interviews, admin, severance, unemployment claims)
- Replacement costs (job ads, recruiter fees of 15–25% of salary, interviewing time)
- Training costs (onboarding hours, manager time, mistakes during ramp-up — typically 3–6 months to full productivity)
- Lost productivity (the gap between the departure and the new hire’s full output — the biggest and most ignored line item)
The formula
Turnover cost per employee ≈ 50% of annual salary (entry-level) to 200% (highly specialized or executive). Multiply by your annual departures. That’s your number.
Calculate yours now
Use the Employee Turnover Calculator — plug in headcount, average salary, and turnover rate. Takes 60 seconds.
4 retention levers cheaper than recruiting
- Stay interviews. Ask your best people what keeps them — before they interview elsewhere.
- Fix the manager. People quit managers, not companies. Train yours.
- Onboard properly — first impressions compound.
- Pay fairly. A 5% raise beats a 100%-of-salary replacement cost every time.
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