Employee turnover rate calculator and formula

Your employee turnover rate tells you what share of your workforce left during a period. Enter your headcount at the start and end of the period and the number of people who left, and the calculator gives you the rate for the period, the annualised rate and the split between voluntary and involuntary turnover — with the working shown, so you can explain the number to anyone who asks.

What is the employee turnover formula?

Turnover rate equals the number of leavers in the period divided by the average headcount in the period, multiplied by 100 — a share of the workforce, not a count of exits.

Average headcount = (headcount at the start + headcount at the end) ÷ 2. For a more accurate figure, use the average of the monthly headcounts.
Turnover rate (%) = leavers in the period ÷ average headcount × 100.
Annualised rate (%) = turnover rate for the period × 12 ÷ number of months in the period.
Voluntary turnover rate (%) = voluntary leavers ÷ average headcount × 100.
Voluntary share (%) = voluntary leavers ÷ all leavers × 100.

The official US labour statistics use the same logic month by month: the US Bureau of Labor Statistics computes its separations rate by dividing the number of separations by employment and multiplying by 100.

What does a worked example look like?

A company starts a six-month period with 400 employees and ends it with 440. During the period, 60 people left: 45 resigned and 15 were dismissed or made redundant.

Step	Calculation	Result	Why it matters
Average headcount	(400 + 440) ÷ 2	420	Uses the whole period, not just one day
Turnover rate for the period	60 ÷ 420 × 100	14.3%	The share of the workforce that left in six months
Annualised turnover rate	14.3% × 12 ÷ 6	28.6%	Lets you compare with yearly figures, if the pace holds
Voluntary turnover rate	45 ÷ 420 × 100	10.7% (21.4% annualised)	The part you can most directly influence
Voluntary share of leavers	45 ÷ 60 × 100	75%	Tells you whether turnover is mostly people choosing to go

Annualising assumes the pace of the period continues. If your business is seasonal, compare the same months year on year instead.

Which leavers count as turnover?

Decide your definition once, write it down and keep it, because the number changes with the definition.

Type of leaver	Usually counted?	Why
Resignations	Yes, as voluntary	The core of the measure
Dismissals and redundancies	Yes, as involuntary	They are still a loss of people and cost
Retirements	Often shown separately	They are planned and predictable
Internal transfers to another part of the company	No	The person has not left the organisation
End of fixed-term or seasonal contracts	Shown separately	Otherwise they dominate the figure in seasonal businesses

What is a normal employee turnover rate?

There is no single normal rate, and any figure quoted without its source should be treated with suspicion. Turnover varies with the sector, the role, the season, the labour market and the definition used. A retail store team and a group of senior engineers will never share a "normal". When we checked in October 2026, we found no published voluntary-turnover benchmark for Egypt or Saudi Arabia that disclosed its sample.

The useful comparisons are closer to home: your own rate over time, the same role across sites, and the voluntary rate in the first year of employment against the rate after it. If your first-year rate is far higher, the problem often starts in recruitment or in the onboarding programme for new employees: in what people were promised, and how their first months went.

How much does employee turnover cost?

More than the recruitment fee. Replacing someone costs recruitment, the time a role stays empty, the training of the new person, and the months before they are fully productive. Gallup has estimated, for US employers, that the cost of replacing an individual employee can range from one-half to two times the employee's annual salary. Use our ROI calculator to put your own numbers on it — the turnover calculator can send its results there in one click.

Frequently asked questions

Can employee turnover be greater than 100%?

Yes. If more people leave during a period than your average headcount — common in high-churn, entry-level or seasonal roles, where the same positions are filled several times — the rate goes above 100%.

Does employee turnover include layoffs?

Usually yes, as involuntary turnover. Report it separately from voluntary turnover, because the two have different causes and different fixes.

Does employee turnover include retirement?

Many organisations count retirements but report them separately, because they are planned. Choose a rule and keep it, so your trend stays comparable.

What is the difference between turnover rate and retention rate?

Turnover counts the people who left. Retention counts the people who stayed: employees at the start of the period who are still employed at the end, divided by the headcount at the start. The two do not always add up to 100%, because new hires who leave within the period count in turnover but not in retention, and because turnover divides by the average headcount while retention divides by the headcount at the start.

How do you calculate employee turnover in Excel?

Put the start headcount in A2, the end headcount in B2, the leavers in C2 and the number of months in D2. Type =C2/((A2+B2)/2) and format the cell as a percentage. For the annualised rate, type =C2/((A2+B2)/2)/(D2/12).

How can we reduce employee turnover?

Start with where it is highest and earliest. Measure first-year turnover by role and manager, ask leavers and stayers why, and fix the moments that cause people to go. Our article on why employees leave in MENA covers the most common drivers.

Sources

US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, technical note (definitions and rate calculation). bls.gov
McFeely, S. and Wigert, B. (2019), "This fixable problem costs U.S. businesses $1 trillion", Gallup. gallup.com

Employee turnover rate calculator: the formula, a worked example and what the number means