Turnover (employment)

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this article, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new article, as appropriate. (March 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In human resources, turnover refers to employees who leave an organization. The turnover rate is the percentage of the total workforce who leave over a certain period.^[1] Organizations and wider industries may measure their turnover rate during a fiscal or calendar year.^[2]

Reasons for leaving include termination (i.e. involuntary turnover), retirement, death, transfers to other sections of the organization, and resignations.^[2] Factors external to the organization, such as employees seeking to meet financial needs, work-family balances, economic crises, etc. may also contribute.^[3]

Turnover rates may vary due to time and industry. If an employer has a high turnover rate relative to its competitors, this means that employees of that company have a shorter average tenure than those of other companies in the same industry.^{[excessive detail?]}

High turnover may be particularly harmful to a company's productivity if it cannot easily retain or replace skilled workers. Companies may track turnover internally across departments, divisions, or demographic groups such as turnover of women versus men.^[why?] Companies may seek to better understand voluntary turnover by surveying leavers on their motivations. Many organizations have discovered that turnover is reduced significantly when issues affecting employees are addressed immediately and professionally.^{[citation needed]} Companies may try to reduce employee turnover rates by offering benefits such as paid sick days, paid holidays and flexible schedules.^[4]