90 Employee Retention Statistics, Facts and Quotes

With new companies and new job opportunities turning up every other day, employees have a lot of options at hand and don’t think much before switching jobs. Hence, job satisfaction has become a very critical aspect in the current professional world when it comes to employee retention.

The times are changing and with it, the needs of employees are also getting changed. With that being said, employers now need to manage their company culture mindfully to give their employees a better experience.

Over 70% of companies have said that staff turnover has had a negative financial effect. Retaining good employees is the need of the hour because they are the most valuable assets of a company. If you were wondering how to frame an effective employee retention strategy, then this blog is here to help.

We have compiled a massive list of all the stats that will help you understand why employees leave and what can be done to remedy the problem. Here we go!

Why Do We Need to Talk About Employee Retention

1. Around 3 million Americans quit their jobs every month (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
2. 31% of workers have quit a job within the first 6 months (Bamboo HR)
3. Over 50% of all organizations have trouble retaining some of their much-valued employee groups (Willis Tower Watson)
4. Replacing a highly-trained employee could cost more than 200% of their annual salary
5. Over 25% of employees are in a high-retention-risk category (Willis Tower Watson)
6. 46% of high-retention-risk and 13% of low-risk retention employees have used apps to look for new jobs in the last month. (Willis Tower Watson)
7. Highly engaged employees are 40% less likely to look for jobs as compared to actively disengaged workers. (Bonusly)
8. 65% of employees believe that they will find a better job position somewhere else
9. 31% of employees quit their jobs within the first 6 months of starting
10. 47% of HR professionals commented that retention is the top talent issue they face followed by recruitment at 36%
11. The US will lose $430 billion every year by 2030 due to low talent retention
12. A higher retention rate maximizes a company’s profits up to a maximum of 4 times on an average
13. Average employee exit costs 33% of their annual salary (Source-Employee Benefit News)
14. The national average turnover rate was 36.4% in 2019.
15. An employee stays with a company for only 4.2 years.
16. 63% of CFOs comment that employee turnover has risen in the past 3 years.
17. When it comes to the younger employees, 31% of millennials have reported that they will leave their jobs within 2 years.
18. Organizations have incurred $223 billion in costs due to their turnover linked to workplace culture over the last 5 years. (SHRM)

Reasons Why Employees Leave

19. Over 70% of high-retention-risk employees have commented that they need to leave their organization to grow their career (Willis Tower Watson)
20. 35% of employees commented that they are likely to find a new job if they do not receive a pay rise by the next year (Glassdoor)
21. 44% of employees have said that they would take up a job at a different company to get a raise of 20% or less. (Gallup)
22. Over 50% of American employees believe that if they lose their current job, they will be able to have it replaced within the next 6 months (Glassdoor)
23. 65% have confidence that they can get a better job position that pays more. (Dice)
24. 46% of HR leaders have said that employee burnout is the reason behind 50% of their annual workforce turnover (Kronos)
25. Employees who are not recognized properly are 2x times more likely to quit by the next year (Gallup)
26. A mere 25% of employees actually feel connected to the mission of the company they work in.
27. 95% of HR leaders have admitted that employee burnout sabotages workforce retention (Kronos Incorporated and Future Workplace)
28. 48% of employees leave their job roles because it doesn’t meet their expectations
29. 8 out of 10 employees seek a new job just after having 1 bad day (Addison Group)
30. 70% of staff members might leave their present organizations and take up a job with someplace that is known for investing in employee development and learning. (The Harris Poll)
31. Lack of appropriate management skills makes it 4x more likely for employees to quit
32. Employees are 16% less likely to stay at a company if they do not feel comfortable providing upward feedback. (TINYpulse)
33. If there is a lack of respect between employees and management, then the employees are 26% more likely to leave their jobs.
34. For every 10 months, the employee stays in the same position, their chances of quitting increase by 1% (HBR)
35. If someone tells a person that working at a certain company would reduce their life expectancy by 1%, then they are much likely to take up a job elsewhere. Harvard and Stanford’s researchers found out that long hours reduce a person’s life expectancy roughly by 20%.
36. The top reasons that employees give for leaving their jobs are lack of career development (22%), lack of support along with work-life balance (12%), manager’s behavior (11%), unsatisfactory compensation and benefits (9%), and poor well-being (9%). (Work Institute)
37. 51% of employees have said that they would switch their jobs to the one that offers flexible working (Gallup)

What Increases Employee Retention?

38. 69% of employees who get effective onboarding are much more likely to stay with the employer for at least 3 years, and 58% are likely to stay for 3 more years (O.C. Tanner)
39. 41% of employees said that job security is the most important thing they want to stay in a company. (Willis Towers Watson)
40. Strong management and transparency results in 30% better employee retention (TINYpulse)
41. Employee happiness is 23.3% more linked to connections with coworkers than their direct supervisors (TINYpulse)
42. Employees whose managers consistently acknowledge them for producing good work are 5x times more likely to be retained by the company (Qualtrics)
43. Employees with managers who regularly help them to manage their workload are 8x more likely to stay even if just half of the managers accomplish it (Qualtrics)
44. The employees who are highly engaged are 87% less likely to leave the company as compared to their less engaged counterparts. (Corporate Leadership Council)
45. A company needs to set up clear goals for new employees because that works as a good retention strategy. Turns out, 60% of companies do not have clear goals in place for their new employees.
46. The retention rate can rise up to 60% if the onboarding process involves e-learning
47. 60% of US employees said that they have a certain way to provide feedback about their own experience at the company. But, only 30% of these employees said that their feedback is acted upon by the employer. (Qualtrics)
48. Employees who feel that they are progressing in their careers are 20% more likely to be still working at the same company in one year.
49. Millennial employees are 22x more likely to work for a company that has a high trust culture. (Great Place to Work)
50. Employees who think that their company has a higher purpose than only profits are 27% more likely to stay at their companies. (TINYpulse)
51. 61% of employees have commented that trust between themselves and senior management is very important to job satisfaction.
52. Employees that rate their work-life balance highly are 10% more likely to stay with the company
53. 94% of employees said that they would stay at a company longer if it invests in their professional development. (Linkedin)
54. 23% of employees will quit their job due to a bad commute system. So, remote working reduces the biggest pain of working at a company. (CNBC)
55. 89% of HR leaders have agreed that continuous feedback and check-ins are much needed for successful results. (Globoforce)
56. New hires find company culture to be very important. 32% of workers have commented that they would agree with a 10% salary reduction if they cared enough about the job
57. 56% of employees have said that getting added paid time off would make them much more loyal to an organization. (Fierce, Inc)

Some More Employee Retention Stats

58. 87% of HR leaders want to keep improved employee retention as a critical or high priority for the next 5 years (Kronos)
59. Companies supporting work-from-home have 25% lower employee turnover than the organizations that don’t. (Owl Labs)
60. 93% of young employees said that they left their jobs the last time their roles were changed. (Gallup)
61. 73% of Gen Z employees will leave their job if it didn’t meet their expectations (hrdrive.com)
62. 79% of employees won’t accept a job with a higher salary if the company doesn’t fail to take action against employees engaging in unethical behavior. (The Manifest)
63. 20% of turnover occurs within the first 45 days of work at the new company
64. Turnover rate is 10x times higher for all the employees leaving within the first year of job
65. The turnover rate reached a new record with 9.7% in March 2020.
66. Employee’s happiness depends 23.3% more on their co-workers than on the supervisors
67. The young generation of employees easily get burnout but they also yearn for new challenges. 93% of young employees left their last employer voluntarily because of a lack of job satisfaction
68. 54% of employees don’t have a clear idea about their promotion and career path (TINYpulse)
69. 33% of employees are quite satisfied with the trust level in their organizations. (SHRM)
70. The inclusion and diversion at the workplace impact the job seekers’ decision to take a job by 67%
71. 43% of HR professionals stated “competition from other employees” as one of the top reasons why they are struggling to hire the right employees (SHRM)
72. 1 out of 2 job seekers have complained of having a negative experience during the hiring procedure and 50% of the respondents have declined the offer due to some poor experience. (CareerPlug)
73. 72% of hiring managers have claimed that despite providing clear job descriptions, just 36% of candidates agree to them(HR Dive)
74. Around 30% of new hires resign in the first 3 months of joining a new job (Jobvite)
75. Over 3/4^th of employees wish to learn new skills, but just 2/5^th claim that they don’t have the time to use reskilling. (Mercer)

Employee Retention Quotes

76. “Inspired people, inspire people. So to engage and motivate others, first your people leaders need to be inspired and energized.”
77. “Employee engagement is an investment we make for the privilege of future-proofing our organization’s productivity and performance”.
78. “Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.” (Richard Branson)
79. “To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace”. (Doug Conant)
80. “Treat employees like they make a difference and they will.” (Jim Goodnight)
81. “Businesses often forget about the culture, and ultimately, they suffer for it because you can’t deliver good service from unhappy employees.” (Tony Hsieh)
82. “It’s [employee engagement] about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment, and helping to find a way to innovate.” (Marissa Mayer)
83. “Understanding your employee’s perspective can go a long way towards increasing productivity and happiness.” (Kathryn Minshew)
84. “Employees are a company’s greatest asset – they’re your competitive advantage. You want to attract and retain the best; provide them with encouragement, stimulus and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company’s mission.” (Anne M. Mulcahy)
85. “An employee’s job is to give his or her best work every day. A manager’s job is to give the employee a good reason to come back to work tomorrow.” (Liz Ryan)
86. “Our mission statement about treating people with respect and dignity is not just words but a creed we live by every day. You can’t expect your employees to exceed the expectations of your customers if you don’t exceed the employees’ expectations of management.”  (Howard Schultz)
87. “There are only three measurements that tell you nearly everything you need to know about your organization’s overall performance: employee engagement, customer satisfaction, and cash flow… No company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” (Jack Welch)
88. “As far as engagement goes, the fish always rots from the head. People leaders need to be the catalyst to improving productivity and performance, but they can’t if they are not first engaged”.
89. “Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.” (Kevin Kruse)
90. “Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers.” (Stephen R. Covey)

Bottom Line

We have compiled all the employee retention statistics necessary for you to understand why employees quit and how to retain them longer. Losing employees translate to losing valuable assets, institutional knowledge, and reduced productivity.

Even the best managers and bosses can have a hard time retaining talent. Knowing about the core issues that drive employees to leave the company can help you resolve them and hence, in turn, retain your workforce.

Forging a good employee retention strategy requires you to know the real-life statistics and data first. Once you have them, you can get an idea of what the real problem is, what employees really want, and try to implement the necessary changes in your working structure. These factors are in your company’s control and modifying them would increase employee retention massively. This would ultimately lead to a better workplace environment.