# What does it cost to replace an employee in the UK?

> Replacing a UK employee is put at £30,614: £5,433 to hire and £25,181 of lost output (2014). Cash to hire is a median of £2,000 (CIPD, 2026).

Source: https://lumihr.co.uk/guides/cost-of-replacing-an-employee-uk
Author: David Whitfield (https://lumihr.co.uk/about/david-whitfield)
Review by: 12 May 2027

---
*By David Whitfield · Evidence as at 12 November 2026 · Review by 12 May 2027*

**The most quoted UK figure is £30,614 to replace one leaver: £5,433 to hire, and £25,181 of output lost over 28 weeks while a new starter learns the job (Oxford Economics for Unum, 2014, as reported at the time). The cash paid to hire is far smaller: a median of £2,000 for most employees and £3,500 for senior managers and directors (CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026).**

> **In short**
> - £30,614 is a 2014 figure for staff earning £25,000 or more in five sectors. Under a fifth of it is cash paid to hire.
> - The median cost per hire in 2026 is £2,000 for most employees (223 estimates) and £3,500 for senior managers and directors (263 estimates).
> - The two figures answer different questions: what an employer pays out to hire, and what the learning period costs in output.
> - Of the HR professionals who knew their turnover data, 24% said their organisation works out what it costs.
> - For a typical UK employer of 1,000 people, 25 a year leave for a better package. Replacing them comes to £767,000 on the 2014 figure, of which about £50,000 is cash to hire at the 2026 median.

## What is the £30,614 made of?

Two parts, and most of it is not cash.

| Part | Amount | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Hiring the replacement | £5,433 | 17.7% |
| Output lost over 28 weeks while the new starter learns the job | £25,181 | 82.3% |
| **To replace one leaver** | **£30,614** | 100% |

The figure comes from *The Cost of Brain Drain*, a 2014 study by Oxford Economics for Unum [1]. The amounts above are as reported at the time [2].

## Who does the £30,614 cover, and how old is it?

It covers staff earning £25,000 or more in five sectors, in 2014 [2].

Three limits follow.

- **It is old.** The figure is in 2014 pounds, and no update has been published.
- **It is not every job.** Lower-paid roles and other sectors were outside the study.
- **Most of it is an estimate of lost output.** It is not money that leaves a bank account.

It is still the figure most often quoted in the UK, because nothing newer measures the same thing.

## What does hiring cost in cash today?

A median of £2,000 for most employees and £3,500 for senior managers and directors, in the CIPD's 2026 survey [3].

| Role | Median cost per hire | Estimates |
|---|---|---|
| Senior managers and directors, all sectors | £3,500 | 263 |
| Senior managers and directors, private sector | £5,000 | 170 |
| Other employees, all sectors | £2,000 | 223 |
| Other employees, private sector | £2,000 | 151 |

These are the respondents who could give an average cost per hire accurate to within 20%. The CIPD advises caution: the samples are small, and organisations count different costs. The survey was run online by YouGov from 2 April to 2 May 2026, with 1,014 UK HR and people professionals [3].

## Why are the two figures so far apart?

They answer different questions.

- **Cost per hire** is what the employer pays out to recruit, such as advertising and agency fees. Organisations count different costs in it, as the CIPD notes [3].
- **Cost to replace** adds the output the organisation goes without while a new person learns the job.

On the 2014 study's own split, hiring is £5,433 of £30,614: under a fifth. So a finance director who counts only invoices sees one figure, and an operations director who counts output sees another. Both are right about what they count.

## How many employers work out what turnover costs?

About one in four. Of the organisations that knew their turnover data, 24% said they calculate its cost; 8% did not know [3].

Large private sector organisations are the most likely to (41%), ahead of private sector small and medium-sized employers (15%), the public sector (12%) and non-profits (8%) [3].

## What does it come to for an employer of your size?

For a typical UK employer of 1,000 people, about £767,000 a year to replace those who leave for a better package.

The sum uses two national figures. In the year to June 2026, 8.6% of people in work changed employer [4]. Of employees who have changed employer, 29% say they did so for better pay and benefits [5]. Together that is 25 people a year in every 1,000.

| Employees | Leave for a better package | To replace them at £30,614 | Of which cash to hire, at £2,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | 3 | £77,000 | £5,000 |
| 250 | 6 | £192,000 | £13,000 |
| 1,000 | 25 | £767,000 | £50,000 |
| 5,000 | 125 | £3.84m | £251,000 |
| 10,000 | 251 | £7.67m | £501,000 |

Each sum is worked before the number of people is rounded. The [calculator](/calculator) does it for any headcount from 50 to 10,000, and gives the result as a PDF or a spreadsheet.

## What do these figures leave out?

- **Your own leavers.** These are national rates. Your turnover, and why people leave, will differ. See [how to calculate the cost of staff turnover](/guides/how-to-calculate-cost-of-staff-turnover) for your own.
- **Base pay.** "Pay and benefits" is one answer in the CIPD's survey. It includes base pay, which lumi does not benchmark.
- **Which benefit.** Nothing in these sources links one benefit to one leaver.
- **Posts that are not refilled.** A leaver who is not replaced costs nothing to hire.

## FAQ

**How much does it cost to replace an employee in the UK?**
£30,614 is the figure most often quoted: £5,433 to hire and £25,181 of output lost over 28 weeks (Oxford Economics for Unum, 2014, as reported at the time) [1][2]. It covers staff earning £25,000 or more in five sectors.

**How much does it cost to hire an employee in the UK?**
A median of £2,000 for most employees and £3,500 for senior managers and directors, according to the CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026 [3]. The figures rest on 223 and 263 estimates.

**Is the £30,614 figure still valid?**
It is from 2014 and has not been updated [1]. Under a fifth of it is cash paid to hire; the rest is an estimate of output lost while a new starter learns the job.

**How long does a new employee take to reach full output?**
28 weeks, in the Oxford Economics study behind the £30,614 figure, as reported at the time [2].

**How many people leave for better pay and benefits?**
About 25 a year in every 1,000 employees: 8.6% of people in work changed employer in the year to June 2026 (ONS) [4], and 29% of employees who have changed employer say it was for better pay and benefits (CIPD Good Work Index 2026) [5].

## Related

- [How to calculate the cost of staff turnover](/guides/how-to-calculate-cost-of-staff-turnover) — the same sum on your own leavers.
- [How many UK employees change jobs each year?](/guides/how-many-employees-change-jobs-uk)
- [What is at stake at your size? The calculator](/calculator) — the figures for your headcount and sector, with a download.
- [How lumi works: methodology](/methodology)

## Sources

1. Oxford Economics for Unum, *The Cost of Brain Drain* (2014). https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/the-cost-of-brain-drain/
2. HR Review (25 February 2014), reporting the study's figures: £5,433 to hire, £25,181 of lost output over 28 weeks, staff earning £25,000 or more in five sectors. The study's own page gives no figures, so they are cited as reported. https://hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/recruitment/it-costs-over-30k-to-replace-a-staff-member
3. CIPD, *Resourcing and talent planning report 2026* (YouGov online survey, 2 April to 2 May 2026; 1,014 UK HR and people professionals). Table 1, median cost per hire; "Most organisations don't calculate the cost of labour turnover". https://www.cipd.org/globalassets/media/knowledge/knowledge-hub/reports/2026-pdfs/9218-resource-and-talent-planning-2026-report-web.pdf
4. Office for National Statistics, *Labour Force Survey flows estimates (X02)*, August 2026 edition: job-to-job rate, seasonally adjusted, the four quarters to April to June 2026. https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/datasets/labourforcesurveyflowsestimatesx02
5. CIPD, *Good Work Index 2026* (CIPD/YouGov UK Working Lives survey; 5,074 UK employees, December 2025 to February 2026). https://prod.cipd.org/globalassets/media/comms/news/2026/good-work-index-2026.pdf

*This page is general information. It describes a typical employer, not yours, and it is not advice.*

**Want to see where your own package sits against UK employers like you?** [Book a call](https://lumihr.co.uk/book-a-call)