In short
- The cost of turnover is leavers multiplied by what one leaver costs to replace. Both halves are choices, so state them.
- Of the HR professionals who knew their turnover data, 24% said their organisation works out what it costs (CIPD, 2026).
- Cash to hire is a median of £2,000 for most employees and £3,500 for senior managers and directors (CIPD, 2026). With the output lost while a new starter learns the job, the most quoted figure is £30,614 (Oxford Economics for Unum, 2014).
- Nationally, 8.6% of people in work changed employer in the year to June 2026 (ONS), and 29% of employees who have changed employer say it was for better pay and benefits (CIPD, 2026).
- The result is a low figure, a high figure, and a sentence saying what each counts.
lumi is a benchmarking community for UK reward. Members answer one guided questionnaire about their own policies — everything except base pay — and see where they stand against everyone else who has, with the peer group and the sample size on every figure.
How lumi works · The metrics it covers · How the numbers are made
Before you start
You need three things.
- A list of last year's leavers, with leaving date, job level and, where you have it, the reason given at exit.
- Average headcount for the same 12 months.
- What you spent on recruitment, if finance can separate it.
Involve finance early. The figure will be challenged, and it stands up better if finance agreed what it counts.
No law sets how turnover is costed. This guide uses published UK figures where you have none of your own, and each is named with its source.
Step 1: Count the leavers
Count everyone who left in the 12 months, then divide by average headcount.
For a first check, compare your rate with two national figures. They measure different things.
- 8.6% of people in work changed employer in the year to June 2026, on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) job-to-job rate [1]. It counts only people who went to another employer.
- Employers in the CIPD's 2026 survey reported a median labour turnover of 4.1% for 2025 [2]. The CIPD advises caution: the sample is weighted towards very small organisations with no or very low turnover.
For the detail behind both, see how many UK employees change jobs each year.
Step 2: Decide which leavers to count
Not every leaver is a cost you could have avoided.
◆ Decision: which leavers go into the sum
If you have no exit data, there is a national share to use until you do. Of employees who have changed employer, 29% say they did so for better pay and benefits [3]. Pay and benefits are one answer in that survey, so it includes people who moved for base pay alone.
Step 3: Price one leaver
There are two published figures, and they are fifteen times apart because they count different things.
◆ Decision: what one leaver costs
For what each published figure covers, see what it costs to replace an employee in the UK.
Step 4: Multiply, and keep a low and a high figure
Work the sum twice: once on cash to hire, once with lost output. Report both.
Worked example. An employer has 400 employees. Last year 38 people left, and exit interviews put 11 of them down to a better package elsewhere. One of the 11 was a senior manager.
| Sum | Result | |
|---|---|---|
| Turnover rate | 38 ÷ 400 | 9.5% |
| Share who left for a better package | 11 ÷ 38 | 28.9% |
| Low figure: cash to hire | (10 × £2,000) + (1 × £3,500) | £23,500 |
| High figure: hiring plus lost output | 11 × £30,614 | £336,754 |
The employer can say: "Replacing the 11 people who left for a better package cost between £23,500 in cash to hire and £336,754 once the output lost while their replacements learned the job is counted."
Step 5: Check it against a typical employer of your size
The national rates give a figure to compare with: headcount × 8.64% × 29% × £30,614.
For 400 employees that is 10 people and £307,000 a year. The employer in the example had 11, so it is close to typical.
The calculator does this sum for any headcount from 50 to 10,000 and for 14 sectors. It gives the result as a PDF or a spreadsheet, which is a quick way to put the typical figure beside your own.
Step 6: Set it beside what the package costs
Turnover is one half of what a reward package has at stake. The other half is what the organisation spends above the market on benefits that few employees feel.
In the lumi pool, the middle employer of 250 to 999 employees spends 1.30% of payroll above its peers' usual level on such benefits (n = 48; lumi pool, 12 November 2026, 270 measured) [5]. These are organisations in the lumi HR community, not a random sample of UK employers. For 400 employees on mean UK pay that is £223,000 a year. Above the market is not waste if the employer meant to lead; the question is whether it is on purpose. See how much UK employers spend above the market on benefits.
Step 7: Say what the figure is
A turnover cost is an estimate. Present it with its limits.
- Give the low and the high figure together, and say what each counts.
- Name the source of every rate you did not measure yourself.
- Say which leavers are in it.
- Do not present lost output as cash.
Checklist
- Leavers for the last 12 months listed, with leaving reason where known
- Average headcount for the same 12 months agreed with finance
- Turnover rate worked out and compared with the ONS and CIPD figures
- Decision recorded on which leavers are counted
- Decision recorded on what one leaver costs
- Low figure worked on cash to hire
- High figure worked with lost output
- Both compared with a typical employer of the same size
- Every borrowed rate named with its source and date
- The limits written beside the figure
See how your own organisation compares. Thirty minutes on your sector, and you can decide whether it is worth an hour of your data. We won’t sell you anything on the call.
FAQ
How do you calculate the cost of staff turnover? Multiply the number of leavers by what one leaver costs to replace. Decide first which leavers to count, and whether the cost is cash to hire or includes lost output.
What is the formula for staff turnover rate? Leavers in a period divided by average headcount in the same period, as a percentage. In the example above, 38 leavers ÷ 400 employees is 9.5%.
What does one leaver cost? Between a median of £2,000 in cash to hire for most employees (CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026) [2] and £30,614 once lost output is counted (Oxford Economics for Unum, 2014, as reported at the time) [4].
How many leavers go for a better package? 29% of employees who have changed employer say they did so for better pay and benefits, in the CIPD Good Work Index 2026 [3]. Your own exit data is better evidence where you have it.
How many employers calculate the cost of turnover? 24% of those that know their turnover data, according to the CIPD Resourcing and talent planning report 2026 [2]. In the large private sector it is 41%.
Sources
- 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
- 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; "Labour turnover remains low"; "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
- 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
- Oxford Economics for Unum, The Cost of Brain Drain (2014), as reported by HR Review on 25 February 2014. https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/the-cost-of-brain-drain/
- lumi pool, 12 November 2026: 270 measured, in five size bands. Shown in full on the calculator.
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David Whitfield, How to calculate the cost of staff turnover. lumi, evidence as at 12 November 2026. https://lumihr.co.uk/guides/how-to-calculate-cost-of-staff-turnoverLast reviewed 12 November 2026 · This guide states published evidence at the date shown, with its sources listed. It is general information, not advice.