Employee Turnover Cost Calculator
What engineers or support agents leaving costs you a year, in BLS pay and your own inputs
1. The team and who left
2. What one departure costs you
Not sure of your cost per hire? Use the cost per hire calculator, then enter the result above.
Result
| One departure | USD |
|---|---|
| Recruiting (cost per hire) | $8,000 |
| Exit and handover time | $2,035 |
| Lost output while the replacement ramps up | $24,419 |
| Cover while the seat is empty | $0.00 |
One departure costs 16.3% of that person's loaded yearly pay ($211,635) with these inputs.
Compare with the BLS quits rate
BLS counts people who quit, not layoffs or dismissals, so compare it with your voluntary departures. The yearly figure adds the 12 monthly rates from September 2025 to August 2026, seasonally adjusted.
The formulas
Loaded yearly pay = annual pay x (1 + benefits %) Handover cost = handover hours x loaded yearly pay / 2,080 Ramp-up cost = ramp weeks x output lost % x loaded yearly pay / 52 Cost per departure = cost per hire + handover cost + ramp-up cost + cover cost Turnover cost per year = cost per departure x people who left Turnover rate = people who left / people in the team
How this works
Pay starts from US Bureau of Labor Statistics data (OEWS, May 2025): software developers (15-1252) at a mean of $148,100 a year, or customer service representatives (43-4051) at $46,590. Benefits default to 42.9%, the BLS private-industry average for June 2026. Handover and ramp-up time are priced at that loaded pay. Recruiting cost is your cost per hire, which the cost per hire calculator works out from your own spend.
This tool does not use a rule such as "a departure costs six to nine months of salary". Every figure other than pay and benefits is a placeholder that you replace. The BLS quits rate is shown for comparison only and does not change the result.
Worked example with the defaults (software developers, 20 people, 3 left): loaded pay is $148,100 x 1.429 = $211,634.90. Handover is 20 hours x $211,634.90 / 2,080 = $2,034.95. Ramp-up is 12 weeks x 50% x $211,634.90 / 52 = $24,419.41. With $8,000 cost per hire, one departure costs $34,454.36 and three cost $103,363.09, which is 2.4% of the team's loaded payroll. The turnover rate is 3 / 20 = 15%.
Sources (read November 12, 2026)
- BLS OEWS, May 2025: Software developers (15-1252), mean $148,100
- BLS OEWS, May 2025: Customer service representatives (43-4051), mean $46,590
- BLS Employer Costs for Employee Compensation, June 2026 (benefits $14.07 per $32.82 of wages)
- BLS Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (quits rate, seasonally adjusted)
- AY Automate engineer placement (from $3K a month, 90-day replacement guarantee)
Replacing an engineer? AY Automate places one from $3K a month with no recruitment fee and a 90-day replacement guarantee. See engineer placement.
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