[Turnover and attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#turnover) # What is attrition? Definition Attrition is headcount lost when employees leave and the role is not backfilled, so the position disappears from the org chart. Last updated October 13, 2026 ## Attrition means the seat goes away with the person. When someone leaves and you hire a replacement, the org chart looks the same afterwards. When someone leaves and nobody replaces them, the team is permanently smaller. The second case is attrition in its strict sense: retirements that are not refilled, roles cut in a restructure, vacancies absorbed by a hiring freeze. _Figure: Two small org charts. Turnover: someone leaves and is replaced, so the role is refilled. Attrition: someone leaves and the role is not backfilled, so the position disappears from the org chart._ In everyday use the word has blurred. Plenty of companies, HR tools and reports say attrition rate when they mean the [turnover rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/turnover-rate), so check which one a number means before you compare it with anything. ## Turnover leaves a seat to fill and attrition removes it. The distinction matters in planning: turnover creates a role to fill, attrition shrinks the team. Many HR teams use the two words interchangeably, so agree internally on which one you mean before comparing numbers with anyone. Attrition shrinks capacity. Turnover costs you a hiring cycle but leaves capacity intact once the seat is filled again. A plan that treats the two the same will either budget for hiring that is not coming or miss the work the remaining team now has to absorb. ## The attrition rate is leavers over average headcount. Leavers during the period divided by average headcount for the same period. Formula Attrition rate = leavers ÷ average headcount × 100 The arithmetic is the same as turnover. What changes is which leavers you count: under the strict definition only the exits whose roles were not backfilled, under the loose one every leaver. Write the definition next to the number. ## Here is a worked example with round numbers. Take an invented team of 50 at the start of the year and 46 at the end. During the year 6 people leave: 4 of the roles are cut or left unfilled, and 2 are backfilled. _Figure: An invented team has 50 people at the start of the year and 46 at the end. Six people leave: four roles are not backfilled and two are. Average headcount is 50 plus 46, divided by 2, which is 48. Turnover counts all six leavers, 6 divided by 48, which is 12.5%. Strict attrition counts only the four unreplaced exits, 4 divided by 48, about 8.3%._ Average headcount is (50 + 46) ÷ 2 = 48. Strict attrition counts the 4 unreplaced exits: 4 ÷ 48 × 100, about 8.3%. Turnover counts all 6 leavers: 6 ÷ 48 × 100, which is 12.5%. Both are correct, and they answer different questions. ## Planned attrition is a tool and unplanned attrition is a problem. Letting roles lapse through retirements and resignations is a gentler way to shrink than a layoff. It becomes a problem when it is unplanned: when the roles that disappear are ones the business still needs, and the remaining team quietly absorbs the work. Published attrition benchmarks rarely say which definition they used, so compare your rate with your own history first. ## These mistakes make attrition numbers hard to compare. - Comparing your attrition rate with someone else's without checking whether they count every leaver or only the unreplaced ones. - Leaving the definition off the report, so next quarter's reader cannot tell which one was used. - Treating attrition as a free saving. The salary goes away, but the work often stays and lands on the people who remain. - Counting a role as not backfilled while a hire is still in progress, then never correcting it when the seat is filled. ## Work out your own attrition rate. The free turnover rate calculator runs the same formula. Enter your headcount at the start and end of the period and the leavers you count, and it shows the annualized figure. [Calculate your attrition rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-rate-calculator) Free, no signup required. ## These related terms are in the glossary too. - [Employee turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/employee-turnover) Employee turnover is the movement of people out of a company over a set period, counted as the employees who leave and are replaced. - [Turnover rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/turnover-rate) The turnover rate is the percentage of your workforce that left during a period. - [Employee churn](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/employee-churn) Employee churn is an informal synonym for employee turnover, borrowed from subscription metrics where churn means customers lost. - [Regretted attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition) Regretted attrition is a departure the company did not want: someone whose performance, skills or relationships you would have paid to keep. - [Headcount and average headcount](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/headcount) Headcount is the number of employees on the payroll at a point in time. Average headcount is the average across a period, and it is the denominator in most turnover and retention formulas. - [Separation](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/separation) A separation is any end of the employment relationship, voluntary or involuntary. It is the numerator in most turnover formulas. ## These pages on this site go deeper. - [Attrition rate explained](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/attrition-rate) About TeamPredict TeamPredict is retention early-warning software that flags resignation risk from public LinkedIn signals, so you have lead time to keep the people you want to keep. [See how TeamPredict works](https://www.teampredict.ai/retention-software) [Back to the HR glossary](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#attrition), where all 52 terms are defined.