What is turnover actually costing you?
Most owners feel the pain of losing people but have never put a number on it. Enter four numbers and see your annual turnover cost, then the payroll lever that helps you keep people without raising wages.
Departures per year
0
Cost per departure
$0
Annual turnover cost
$0
This is an estimate based on the numbers you entered and a widely used composite planning benchmark. It is not a guarantee. Your actual cost depends on your business.
Want the full breakdown and the retention math?
We will send your number plus how a Section 125 structure raises take-home pay without raising wages.
Got it. We will follow up shortly.
Something went wrong. Please try again.
Why turnover costs add up faster than most owners realize
Turnover is rarely expensive because of one big line item. It is expensive because of many smaller costs that compound quietly.
Separation and vacancy
Lost output while the role is open, overtime or coverage by other staff, and the admin time to process the departure.
Recruiting and hiring
Advertising, screening, interviewing, and onboarding time, even when no outside recruiter is used.
Ramp-up and productivity loss
The largest and most overlooked cost. A new hire takes months to reach full productivity, needs supervision, and makes more errors early. Most roles take three to nine months to fully ramp.
Institutional knowledge loss
Process familiarity, customer relationships, and undocumented experience that walk out the door and show up later as delays and rework.
About the benchmark
When these factors are combined, many organizations use a percent of annual wage as a conservative planning estimate. It is a widely accepted composite benchmark, not a guarantee. Common planning ranges by role:
| Role type | Cost of turnover |
|---|---|
| Hourly / frontline | 20-30% of wage |
| Skilled / professional | 30-50% of wage |
| Leadership / specialized | 50-200% of wage |
The retention lever hiding in your payroll
Pay matters, but it is not the only lever. When employees pay for certain benefits before tax, their take-home pay goes up and your payroll tax bill goes down at the same time. The employer saves 7.65% in FICA on those dollars (IRC section 3111), and the employee keeps more of each check. It costs you nothing in wage, and it is a real reason good people stay.
Benefits Genius is an educational resource. We do not sell or administer any plan, and this is not tax, legal, or insurance advice. A plan must be properly structured and administered to deliver this treatment.
