[Turnover and attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#turnover) # What is staff turnover? Definition Staff turnover is the same measure as employee turnover, and is the more common phrasing in the UK, Ireland, India, Australia and much of the Commonwealth. Last updated October 13, 2026 ## Staff turnover and employee turnover are the same measure. Both count the people who leave over a period as a share of the workforce. The words differ by region: staff turnover is the usual phrase in the UK, Ireland, India, Australia and much of the Commonwealth, and employee turnover in the US. Labour turnover is an older name you will still see in some reports. Other words for the same idea include [employee churn](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/employee-churn) and staff churn. When a report says [attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/attrition), check whether it means every leaver or only the roles that were not refilled. _Figure: Staff turnover is the usual phrase in the UK, Ireland, India and Australia. Employee turnover is the usual phrase in the US. Both use the same formula: separations divided by average headcount, times 100._ ## Knowing both names keeps comparisons honest. Worth knowing when you read benchmarks or vendor material: a UK report on staff turnover and a US report on employee turnover are measuring the same thing. The same applies inside one company. If a UK office reports staff turnover and a US office reports employee turnover, check that both use the same separation rule and the same denominator before they share a slide. ## Staff turnover is leavers over the average number of staff. Formula Staff turnover rate = leavers ÷ average number of staff × 100 The average number of staff is the number at the start of the period plus the number at the end, divided by two. In other words, separations ÷ average headcount × 100, the same formula as the [turnover rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/turnover-rate). ## Here is a worked example with round numbers. Take an invented care home group that employs 120 staff at the start of the year and 130 at the end, with 25 leavers during the year. _Figure: An invented care home group employs 120 staff at the start of the year and 130 at the end, with 25 leavers. Average staff is 120 plus 130, divided by 2, which is 125. Staff turnover is 25 divided by 125, which is 20% for the year._ Average staff is (120 + 130) ÷ 2 = 125, so staff turnover is 25 ÷ 125 × 100 = 20% for the year. ## Your own history is the fairest comparison. Published staff turnover figures vary enormously by sector, role and region, and rarely say exactly who they counted. Compare this year with your own previous years first, and split the total into [voluntary](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/voluntary-turnover) and [involuntary](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/involuntary-turnover) leavers. ## These are the common mistakes with staff turnover. - Comparing a UK staff turnover figure with a US employee turnover figure without checking that both counted the same leavers. - Including agency or bank staff one year and leaving them out the next. - Counting moves between your own sites as leavers, which inflates the rate. - Looking at the annual figure only. A monthly view shows whether leavers cluster after a change. ## Work out your own staff turnover. Enter your staff numbers at the start and end of the period and the number of leavers, and the free calculator runs the formula and shows the annualized figure. [Calculate your staff turnover](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. - [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. - [Turnover rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/turnover-rate) The turnover rate is the percentage of your workforce that left during a period. - [Attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/attrition) Attrition is headcount lost when employees leave and the role is not backfilled, so the position disappears from the org chart. - [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. - [Cost of turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/cost-of-turnover) The cost of turnover is the full cost of replacing one leaver: recruiting spend, interviewing time, onboarding, the new hire's ramp period, manager time and any temporary cover. ## These pages on this site go deeper. - [Staff turnover guide](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/staff-turnover) 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#staff-turnover), where all 52 terms are defined.