{
  "slug": "employee-turnover-cost",
  "title": "Employee Turnover Cost Calculator",
  "heading": "Employee Turnover Cost Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/employee-turnover-cost",
  "summary": "What losing a team member really costs.",
  "description": "Replacing someone typically costs 50–200% of their salary once you count recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity, and the drag on the rest of the team. Senior and technical roles sit at the top of that range.",
  "formula": "Cost = Recruiting + onboarding + ramp productivity loss + coverage cost, per departure.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=employee-turnover-cost",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "salary",
      "label": "Role salary",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 95000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "recruiting",
      "label": "Recruiting and agency fees",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 15000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "vacancyWeeks",
      "label": "Weeks the seat sits empty",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 8,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "rampMonths",
      "label": "Months to full productivity",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 5,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "departures",
      "label": "Departures per year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 4,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "headcount",
      "label": "Total headcount",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 40,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "perDeparture",
      "label": "Cost per departure",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "annual",
      "label": "Annual turnover cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "turnoverRate",
      "label": "Turnover rate",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "asPctSalary",
      "label": "As a share of salary",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "rampLoss",
      "label": "Lost productivity during ramp",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Role salary: 95000 $",
      "Recruiting and agency fees: 15000 $",
      "Weeks the seat sits empty: 8",
      "Months to full productivity: 5",
      "Departures per year: 4",
      "Total headcount: 40"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Cost per departure: $49,102.56",
      "Annual turnover cost: $196,410.26",
      "Turnover rate: 10.0%",
      "As a share of salary: 52%",
      "Lost productivity during ramp: $15,833.33"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter role salary ($).",
      "Enter recruiting and agency fees ($).",
      "Enter weeks the seat sits empty.",
      "Enter months to full productivity.",
      "Enter departures per year.",
      "Enter total headcount.",
      "Read your cost per departure on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "salary": 55000,
        "recruiting": 9000,
        "vacancyWeeks": 5,
        "rampMonths": 3,
        "departures": 2,
        "headcount": 24
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "salary": 95000,
        "recruiting": 15000,
        "vacancyWeeks": 8,
        "rampMonths": 5,
        "departures": 4,
        "headcount": 40
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "salary": 150000,
        "recruiting": 24000,
        "vacancyWeeks": 13,
        "rampMonths": 8,
        "departures": 6,
        "headcount": 64
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the employee turnover cost calculator work?",
      "a": "Replacing someone typically costs 50–200% of their salary once you count recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity, and the drag on the rest of the team. Senior and technical roles sit at the top of that range. The underlying maths is: Cost = Recruiting + onboarding + ramp productivity loss + coverage cost, per departure."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "6 values: role salary, recruiting and agency fees, weeks the seat sits empty, months to full productivity, departures per year, and total headcount. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the cost per departure result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/payroll-tax",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/meeting-cost",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/agency-utilization"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Employee Turnover Cost Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/employee-turnover-cost)"
}