Free tool

Staff turnover cost calculator

Losing someone costs far more than the advert. Put in your own numbers to see what turnover is really costing your business. It takes two minutes, and there's nothing to sign up for.

Example figures are filled in to start you off. Replace them with your own.

Everyone, including part-time staff.
Everyone who left, for any reason.
Before tax. For hourly staff: hourly rate × weekly hours × 52.
£
Adverts, agency or job board fees, and the time spent shortlisting and interviewing.
£
From the resignation to the new person starting.
weeks
Until they're as quick as the person who left.
weeks
Courses, certificates, uniforms and paid training shifts.
£
Change the assumptions
How much of one person's normal output goes missing, on average, while the role is empty and while the new starter learns. We use 50%.
%
Exit paperwork, rota changes, inductions and check-ins. We use £500.
£

How the calculation works

Most estimates of turnover cost stop at the advert and the agency fee. This one adds the costs that are spread across the year and never arrive as a single bill:

  • Recruitment: adverts, agency or job board fees, and the hours spent shortlisting and interviewing.
  • Lost output while the role is empty: the work that doesn't get done, or gets covered by overtime and a stretched team, until the new person starts.
  • Lost output while they learn: the weeks before a new starter is as quick as the person who left.
  • Training: courses, certificates, uniforms and paid training shifts.
  • Your time: exit paperwork, rota changes, inductions and check-ins.

For each person who leaves, it adds those together:

cost of a leaver = recruitment
  + (weeks to fill ÷ 52) × yearly pay × output lost
  + (weeks to get up to speed ÷ 52) × yearly pay × output lost
  + training + your time

Then it multiplies by the number of people who left in the year. It's the same model the Pulsory platform uses for the cost estimates in its insights, so the two always agree.

It deliberately leaves out things that are real but hard to put a number on, like the knowledge that walks out of the door and the effect on everyone who stays. So treat the result as a floor, not a ceiling.

What to do with the number

Very few businesses ever work this out. CIPD's 2022 Resourcing and Talent Planning survey found that only 17% of the organisations it surveyed calculated the cost of labour turnover. Simply knowing your figure puts you ahead.

The next question is why people are leaving. Your turnover rate tells you how many go, not what made them go. How to calculate staff turnover explains how to measure the rate properly, and our exit interview questions will help you learn from the people who do leave.

Better still is hearing it while they still work for you. That's what Pulsory does: anonymous surveys that show you what's wearing your team down, with an estimated cost against each problem, early enough to fix it.

Questions

About the calculator

How much does it cost to replace an employee in the UK?
It depends heavily on pay, how hard the role is to fill and how long it takes to learn, which is why this calculator uses your own figures. For one sector there is good published data: in a study of 11 care providers, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation found a median total cost of £7,870 per new care worker hire. That covers recruitment, training and agency expenses, plus the cost of the time before a new care worker can work independently (2026).
What's included in the cost of staff turnover?
Recruitment, the cost of covering the gap while the role is empty, training, the weeks before a new starter is fully up to speed, and the management time spent on each departure and arrival. Most estimates only count the first of these.
Why does the calculator assume 50% of output is lost?
While a role is empty, some of the work is covered by colleagues and some isn't done at all. While a new starter learns, they're productive, just not yet fully. Half of normal output across both periods is a deliberately moderate assumption. If you know your own business is different, change it under “Change the assumptions”.
How do I work out my staff turnover rate?
Divide the number of people who left in the year by your average number of employees over the year, then multiply by 100. Our guide on how to calculate staff turnover walks through it with worked examples.
Is anything I type stored?
No. The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is saved or sent anywhere.

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Related: How to calculate staff turnover Exit interview questions Pricing