Employee turnover, absence and cost statistics
Quits, tenure, sickness absence and what it costs to replace someone. Every figure links to its source.
Turnover
US workers quit 38.0 million jobs in 2025, 60.6% of all separations.
US nonfarm employers · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey news release, 2026
US employers recorded 62.8 million separations in 2025, an average monthly rate of 3.3%.
US nonfarm employers · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey news release, 2026
US layoffs and discharges rose by 1.2 million in 2025, to 21.2 million.
US nonfarm employers · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey news release, 2026
52% of employees who quit say their manager or organization could have done something to keep them.
US employees who left voluntarily · Gallup, This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion, 2019
Tenure
The median US employee has been with their current employer for 4.1 years.
US wage and salary workers, January 2026 · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure Summary, 2026
Workers aged 55 to 64 have a median tenure of 9.6 years, more than 3 times the 3.0 years of workers aged 25 to 34.
US wage and salary workers · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure Summary, 2026
Median tenure is 5.6 years in the US public sector and 3.9 years in the private sector.
US wage and salary workers · US Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employee Tenure Summary, 2026
Absence
UK workers lost 2.0% of working hours to sickness or injury in 2025.
UK workers · Office for National Statistics, Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2025, 2026
The UK lost about 148.8 million working days to sickness or injury in 2025, 4.4 days per worker.
UK workers · Office for National Statistics, Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2025, 2026
Minor illnesses were the most common reason for UK sickness absence in 2025, at 30.4% of cases; mental health problems were 8.9%.
UK sickness absence cases · Office for National Statistics, Sickness absence in the UK labour market: 2025, 2026
Cost
Replacing one employee can cost between half and twice that person's annual salary.
US employers · Gallup, This Fixable Problem Costs U.S. Businesses $1 Trillion, 2019
Employees who are not engaged or actively disengaged cost the US economy an estimated $2 trillion a year.
US employees, first half of 2026 · Gallup, Employee Engagement Remains Flat as AI Adoption Accelerates, 2026
Low engagement cost the world economy about $10 trillion in lost productivity, or 9% of global GDP.
Global workforce, 2025 · Gallup, State of the Global Workplace: 2026 Report, 2026
Putting a number on it for your organization
The free turnover and absence cost calculator applies the replacement-cost range above to your own headcount, pay and leaver numbers, and shows the low and high ends side by side.
Download the data
All figures on this page in one spreadsheet, with sources and links.
Cite this page: Employee turnover, absence and cost statistics. workforce performance platform. https://workforceperformanceplatform.com/employee-turnover-statistics/