Attrition Rate vs. Turnover Rate

What is the difference between attrition rate and turnover rate?

Both rates measure how many employees leave an organization over a period, but they tell different stories. Turnover usually means people leave and their roles get refilled. Attrition usually means people leave and the roles are not refilled, so the workforce shrinks naturally through retirements, resignations, or eliminated positions.

At a glance

Types of turnover and attrition

• Voluntary turnover: an employee chooses to leave, such as resigning for another job. It is usually the most useful signal for retention work.
• Involuntary turnover: the employer ends employment, such as a termination or layoff.
• Regrettable turnover: a strong performer the business wanted to keep leaves. Many teams track this separately because it costs the most.
• Retirement attrition: people leave the workforce and the role may or may not be refilled.
• Structural attrition: roles are eliminated or merged, so departures are not backfilled on purpose.

Why the distinction matters

High turnover drives recruiting costs, lost productivity, and training time, because every exit creates a new opening. Attrition can be planned and even healthy when a team is resizing. Mixing the two hides whether you have a retention problem or a deliberate headcount change, and that changes what leaders should do next.

How to calculate each

Pick a period, such as a month or a year, and find average headcount by adding starting and ending headcount and dividing by two. For turnover, divide total separations by average headcount and multiply by 100. For attrition, count only departures that were not backfilled. Many teams split both rates into voluntary and involuntary exits for more insight. Definitions vary by organization, so document yours and use it consistently.

How to track both rates step by step

• Step 1: Agree on written definitions of separation, backfill, and headcount.
• Step 2: Choose a period, such as monthly with a rolling 12-month view.
• Step 3: Tag each exit as voluntary or involuntary and backfilled or not.
• Step 4: Calculate average headcount for the period.
• Step 5: Calculate turnover and attrition and break them down by team, role, and tenure.
• Step 6: Review trends with hiring plans so expected backfills are staffed ahead of time.

Related metrics to watch

• First-year turnover: exits within 12 months of hire, often a sign of hiring or onboarding gaps.
• Regrettable turnover rate: the share of exits the business wanted to avoid.
• Time-to-fill for backfills: how long replaced roles stay open.
• Retention rate: the share of employees who stay over the period, the mirror image of turnover.

Example

A company averages 200 employees over a year. Thirty people leave, and 22 of those roles are refilled. Turnover is 15 percent (30 ÷ 200). If you track attrition as the 8 roles left open, attrition is 4 percent (8 ÷ 200). The same year looks very different depending on which question you ask.

Now compare two teams inside the same company. Sales shows 25 percent turnover but almost no attrition, because every exit is refilled. Operations shows 5 percent turnover and 6 percent attrition, because automation lets the team shrink on purpose. The first team needs a retention plan, while the second is working as designed.

Best practices

• Define both metrics in writing and apply them the same way every period.
• Separate voluntary, involuntary, and regrettable exits.
• Track rates by team, role, and tenure, not only company-wide.
• Pair exit trends with hiring plans so backfills are not a surprise.
• Report both rates side by side so leaders see the full picture.
• Watch first-year exits closely, since they often point to hiring fit.
• Share trends with recruiting early so backfills do not stall work.

Common challenges

Teams often use the words interchangeably, which makes reports hard to compare. Small teams can see big swings from one or two exits, and counting contractors or interns inconsistently skews both rates.

How to avoid these problems

• Mixed definitions: publish one definition and use it in every report.
• Noisy small teams: use rolling 12-month rates and look at counts, not just percentages.
• Missing reasons: pair exit data with exit interviews so the numbers have context.

Key takeaways

• Turnover usually implies backfilled roles, attrition usually implies unfilled ones.
• Track both with written definitions.
• Connect exit trends to hiring plans.

How uRecruits helps

HR Insights brings hiring metrics such as time-to-hire, source performance, and funnel health into one view, so you can connect exit trends to the hiring plans they create.