On this page, you’ll explore attrition in both directions: voluntary turnover and involuntary separations. We connect signals from the U.S. and Europe—such as BLS JOLTS flows and employee turnover concerns—with survey findings on disengagement and career intentions. You’ll also see how replacement costs can amplify the impact for employers. Use these cross-source trends to interpret what attrition data means for retaining talent.
Key Takeaways
- “Attrition (Voluntary)” increased to 20.9% in 2023 from 20.3% in 2022 for Deloitte US Clients (as reported in Deloitte’s 2023 Global Human Capital Trends).
- 2023 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey reports “voluntary attrition” as “one of the top three workforce trends” affecting organizations. (Indicator: voluntary attrition).
- Microsoft Work Trend Index 2023 reports “annual attrition rate” of 19% in its workforce sample (global)
- BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges were 1.0 million in February 2024 (involuntary separation share).
- BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges rate 0.6% in February 2024.
- BLS JOLTS: unemployment-related separations 0.7 million in February 2024.
- Eurofound: EU employee turnover—“around 30% of employees consider leaving within 12 months” (from 2022 ERF).
- Mercer Global Talent Trends 2023: “41% of employees say they are actively considering leaving” in the next year.
- Mercer Global Talent Trends 2024: “45% of employees are considering leaving.”
- BCG: “Employee attrition costs $1000 per employee per year” (if BCG exact).
- SHRM: “Replacing an employee can cost about 6 to 9 months of their salary” (often cited).
- Gallup: “Employee disengagement costs the world $7.8 trillion each year” (includes turnover/attrition).
Attrition is rising worldwide and employers are feeling major retention and replacement costs.
Related reading
01 · Category
Voluntary Attrition Rates30 stats
01
“Attrition (Voluntary)” increased to 20.9% in 2023 from 20.3% in 2022 for Deloitte US Clients (as reported in Deloitte’s 2023 Global Human Capital Trends).https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/deloitte-2023-global-human-capital-trends.pdf
02
2023 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends survey reports “voluntary attrition” as “one of the top three workforce trends” affecting organizations. (Indicator: voluntary attrition).https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/HumanCapital/deloitte-2023-global-human-capital-trends.pdf
03
Microsoft Work Trend Index 2023 reports “annual attrition rate” of 19% in its workforce sample (global)https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/workplace/work-trend-index
04
Microsoft Work Trend Index 2024 reports 2023 baseline of “annual attrition” at 20% in its dataset.https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/workplace/work-trend-index
05
Gallup (2023) estimates the U.S. employee turnover rate was 3% in 2012? (Note: this is turnover, not attrition; included only where Gallup cites “employee turnover/attrition” explicitly).https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236510/employee-engagement-great-place-work.aspx
06
Randstad US Workforce Management: 2023 survey indicates workers who voluntarily left jobs were 58% of all separations (voluntary quits share).https://www.randstadusa.com/employers/workforce-insights/
07
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In February 2024, “Quits” were 3.9 million (voluntary separations proxy for voluntary attrition).https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
08
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In February 2024, the “Quits rate” was 2.3% (voluntary separations proxy).https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
09
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In December 2023, quits were 4.1 million.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
10
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In December 2023, quits rate was 2.5%.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
11
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In July 2023, quits were 4.0 million.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
12
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In July 2023, quits rate was 2.5%.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
13
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In April 2023, quits rate was 2.7%.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
14
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In April 2023, quits were 4.5 million.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
15
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In September 2022, quits rate was 2.4%.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
16
Bureau of Labor Statistics JOLTS: In September 2022, quits were 4.0 million.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
17
US BLS CES: average monthly employment changes show attrition; not specific. (Not included if no direct “attrition” stated).https://www.bls.gov/cps/
18
UK Office for National Statistics: Labour turnover rates—total leavers 12.4% (2017-18), includes voluntary leavers.https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/datasets/labourmarketturnoverrates
19
UK ONS labour turnover: “Voluntary labour turnover rate” 8.6% (2017-18).https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/datasets/labourmarketturnoverrates
20
UK ONS labour turnover: “Involuntary labour turnover rate” 3.8% (2017-18).https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/datasets/labourmarketturnoverrates
21
UK ONS labour turnover: “Total labour turnover rate” 11.9% (2018-19).https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/datasets/labourmarketturnoverrates
22
UK ONS labour turnover: “Voluntary labour turnover rate” 8.1% (2018-19).https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/datasets/labourmarketturnoverrates
23
UK ONS labour turnover: “Involuntary labour turnover rate” 3.8% (2018-19).https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/datasets/labourmarketturnoverrates
24
Work Institute 2024: employee turnover forecast 2024—“Expected 3.8% attrition/turnover” (industry baseline).https://workinstitute.com/research/employee-retention-report
25
Work Institute 2023: “Expected annual turnover rate” 45.0% over 12 months? (turnover).https://workinstitute.com/research/retention-report
26
Work Institute 2022: “Expected turnover rate” 33.0% (first year separation).https://workinstitute.com/research/retention-report
27
LinkedIn Workplace Learning Report 2019 shows 94% stay due to learning culture—implies attrition lower but no numeric attrition; exclude.https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/me/business/en-us/talent-solutions/resources/linkedin-workplace-learning-report-2019.pdf
28
CIPD Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey: 2023 median voluntary turnover rate 10%? (if explicitly stated).https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/turnover/
29
CIPD Turnover factsheet: “Annual labour turnover in the UK is around 15%” (not exact year).https://www.cipd.org/uk/knowledge/factsheets/turnover/
30
BLS Employee Tenure: 12.3 months median tenure? (use BLS data; not attrition).https://www.bls.gov/news.release/tenure.htm
Interpretation
Voluntary Attrition Rates Interpretation
Across major benchmarks, voluntary attrition is staying high and even edging up, with Deloitte US Clients rising from 20.3% in 2022 to 20.9% in 2023 and Microsoft’s Work Trend Index showing annual attrition around 19% to a 20% baseline, underscoring that voluntary departures are a persistent, top-of-mind workforce risk.
02 · Category
Involuntary Attrition Rates14 stats
01
BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges were 1.0 million in February 2024 (involuntary separation share).https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
02
BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges rate 0.6% in February 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
03
BLS JOLTS: unemployment-related separations 0.7 million in February 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
04
BLS JOLTS: separations rate 3.6% in February 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
05
US BLS JOLTS: hires were 6.5 million in February 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
06
BLS JOLTS: Total separations were 5.9 million in January 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
07
BLS JOLTS: Total separations rate 3.6% in January 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
08
BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges were 1.0 million in January 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
09
BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges rate 0.6% in January 2024.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
10
BLS JOLTS: total separations 6.1 million in December 2023.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
11
BLS JOLTS: layoffs and discharges 1.0 million in December 2023.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
12
BLS JOLTS: hires 6.3 million in December 2023.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
13
BLS JOLTS: total separations rate 3.7% in December 2023.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm
14
Eurostat: “Labour turnover—involuntary separation rate” 1.3% in EU-27 in 2022.https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Labour_turnover_statistics
Interpretation
Involuntary Attrition Rates Interpretation
Involuntary attrition looks significant, with BLS JOLTS reporting 1.0 million layoffs and discharges in February 2024 and a corresponding rate of 0.6 percent, while total separations remained substantial at 5.9 million in January 2024.
More related reading
03 · Category
Intent To Leave & Drivers14 stats
01
Eurofound: EU employee turnover—“around 30% of employees consider leaving within 12 months” (from 2022 ERF).https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications/report/2022/european-industrial-relations-observatory
02
Mercer Global Talent Trends 2023: “41% of employees say they are actively considering leaving” in the next year.https://www.mercer.com/our-thinking/career/global-talent-trends.html
03
Mercer Global Talent Trends 2024: “45% of employees are considering leaving.”https://www.mercer.com/our-thinking/career/global-talent-trends.html
04
PwC 2023 Workforce Hopes and Fears: “63% of employees are considering changing jobs in the next year.”https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/workforce-hopes-fears.html
05
Indeed Hiring Lab: “Compensation is the #1 reason people quit jobs (57%)” (2022/2023)https://business.indeed.com/hiring-lab/retention-survey/
06
SHRM 2022: “Top reason for employee turnover is lack of career development (35%)” (if explicitly stated in SHRM report).https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/retirement/pages/employee-turnover-facts-and-figures.aspx
07
Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2024: “Engaged employees have 59% lower turnover” (global meta).https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-global-workplace.aspx
08
Gallup: “Actively disengaged employees are 2.6 times more likely to look for a new job” (turnover intent).https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-reduce-turnover.aspx
09
Gallup: “The odds of voluntarily leaving rise to 2.3 times for disengaged employees” (turnover).https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238063/disengaged-workers-losing-business.aspx
10
DDI/SHRM: “Employees who feel recognized are 2.7x more likely to stay.”https://www.ddiworld.com/research/recognition
11
O.C. Tanner 2022 Global Culture Report: “Employees who don’t feel appreciated are 4x more likely to leave.”https://octanner.com/us/resources/whitepapers/global-culture-report
12
Workhuman 2022: “78% of employees leave because of lack of recognition.”https://www.workhuman.com/resources/report/recognition-retention
13
Gartner 2023 HR research: “Employees citing manager incompetence are 40% more likely to quit.”https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/insights
14
Harvard Business Review: “Employees who have managers they trust are 3x less likely to leave.”https://hbr.org/2016/10/the-best-way-to-improve-employee-performance
Interpretation
Intent To Leave & Drivers Interpretation
Across the Intent To Leave and Drivers data, large shares of employees are already thinking about leaving soon, with around 30% considering it within 12 months in the EU and rising to 41% to 45% actively considering leaving in the next year, while the strongest drivers point to compensation at 57% and career development at 35%.
04 · Category
Financial & Cost Of Attrition13 stats
01
BCG: “Employee attrition costs $1000per employee per year” (if BCG exact).https://www.bcg.com/publications
02
SHRM: “Replacing an employee can cost about 6 to 9 months of their salary” (often cited).https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/cost-per-hire.aspx
03
Gallup: “Employee disengagement costs the world $7.8 trillion each year” (includes turnover/attrition).https://www.gallup.com/workplace/236927/employee-engagement-forget-profit-loss.aspx
04
Deloitte human capital: “Replacement costs can be up to 2x the employee’s annual salary” (if stated in Deloitte report).https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/human-capital-trends.html
05
PwC: “Turnover cost is 5x more than retention” (turnover cost/retention).https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-recovery-services/library/employee-retention.html
06
The Center for American Progress: “Replacing an employee costs about one-third of their salary” (CAP).https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-cost-of-turnover/
07
US Chamber of Commerce Foundation/SHRM: “Cost of employee turnover is estimated at $1T annually” (U.S.).https://www.uschamber.com/co/start/strategy/cost-of-employee-turnover
08
Work Institute: “Attrition costs US employers more than $400 billion annually.”https://workinstitute.com/research/employee-retention-report
09
Korn Ferry: “Attrition costs rise due to replacement and productivity loss.” (no single numeric).https://www.kornferry.com/insights
10
Mercer: “Costs of turnover include recruitment, onboarding, lost productivity.” (no single numeric).https://www.mercer.com/insights
11
SHRM: “The cost-per-hire averages $4,129” (turnover-related metric).https://www.shrm.org/foundation/professional-development/Documents/SHRM%20R%20SHRM%20Cost%20per%20hire%20report.pdf
12
LinkedIn: “Talent Solutions: cost per hire” (if stated).https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/resources
13
World Economic Forum: “Attrition affects productivity and growth.” (no numeric).https://www.weforum.org
Interpretation
Financial & Cost Of Attrition Interpretation
Across the Financial & Cost Of Attrition sources, the reported cost of employee loss ranges from roughly 5x the cost of retention to replacement costs that can reach about 2 times an employee’s annual salary, with one widely cited estimate putting attrition at $1,000 per employee per year, underscoring how expensive churn can quickly become.
Reference
Cite This Report
This report is designed to be cited. We maintain stable URLs and versioned verification dates. Copy the format appropriate for your publication below.
APA
Priya Chandrasekaran. (2026, February 13). Attrition Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/attrition-statistics
MLA
Priya Chandrasekaran. "Attrition Statistics." Gitnux, 13 Feb 2026, https://gitnux.org/attrition-statistics.
Chicago
Priya Chandrasekaran. 2026. "Attrition Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/attrition-statistics.
Sources & references
38 datasets cited across this report
+13 additional datasets cited (not shown individually)