[Turnover and attrition](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary#turnover) # What is voluntary turnover? Definition Voluntary turnover is a departure the employee chose: a resignation, a retirement, or a move to another employer. Last updated October 13, 2026 ## Voluntary turnover covers every exit the employee started. Resignations make up most of it: someone takes a job elsewhere, goes back to study, moves city or leaves to care for family. Retirements usually count as voluntary too, because the employee chose the timing. The opposite is [involuntary turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/involuntary-turnover): a termination, a performance exit or a layoff, where the company made the decision. _Figure: Two kinds of exit side by side. Voluntary turnover is chosen by the employee: a resignation, a retirement or a move to another employer. Involuntary turnover is chosen by the company: a termination, a performance exit or a layoff. Report them separately, so a restructuring never looks like a retention failure._ ## Retention work can only change the exits people choose. This is the part of turnover a retention program can actually move. Reporting it separately from involuntary exits stops a restructuring from looking like a retention failure, and the reverse. Most of the levers a people team controls act on voluntary exits: manager quality, growth paths, pay reviews and workload. Mixing layoffs into the same number dilutes the signal and makes it impossible to tell whether those levers are working. ## The voluntary rate uses the same denominator as total turnover. Formula Voluntary turnover rate = voluntary separations ÷ average headcount × 100 Use the same average headcount as your total [turnover rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/turnover-rate), so the voluntary and involuntary rates add up exactly to the total. ## Here is a worked example with round numbers. Take an invented company with an average headcount of 250 over the year and 25 separations: 18 resignations, 2 retirements and 5 terminations. _Figure: An invented company with an average headcount of 250 has 25 separations in a year: 18 resignations, 2 retirements and 5 terminations. Voluntary separations are 18 plus 2, which is 20, so the voluntary turnover rate is 20 divided by 250, which is 8%. The involuntary rate is 5 divided by 250, which is 2%, and together they make the total of 10%._ Voluntary separations are 18 + 2 = 20. The voluntary turnover rate is 20 ÷ 250 × 100 = 8%. The involuntary rate is 5 ÷ 250 × 100 = 2%, and together they make the total of 10%. ## Voluntary exits split into avoidable and unavoidable ones. A resignation over pay, growth, workload or a manager is avoidable: something inside the company could have changed it. A move abroad with a partner, a return to full-time study or a retirement is unavoidable. Only the avoidable exits measure your retention work. In the example above, suppose 6 of the 18 resignations were for reasons nobody could have changed. The 12 that remain give an avoidable voluntary rate of 12 ÷ 250 × 100 = 4.8%. ## Read the voluntary rate alongside the regretted share. The voluntary rate tells you how many people chose to go, not whether you wanted them to stay. Tag each voluntary exit as [regretted or not](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/regretted-attrition). A flat voluntary rate with a rising regretted share is a worse year than a slightly higher rate made up of exits you were neutral about. ## These are the common mistakes with voluntary turnover. - Recording a resignation the company pushed for as voluntary, which hides involuntary exits inside the retention number. - Putting retirements in one bucket one year and the other bucket the next. - Reporting voluntary turnover only for the whole company, when the cause is often one team or one manager. - Reading the rate without exit reasons, so you know how many left but not why. An [exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview) fills that gap. ## Work out your own voluntary turnover rate. Run only your voluntary separations through the free turnover rate calculator, with your headcount at the start and end of the period, to get the voluntary rate and its annualized figure. [Calculate your voluntary rate](https://www.teampredict.ai/tools/employee-turnover-rate-calculator) Free, no signup required. ## These related terms are in the glossary too. - [Involuntary turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/involuntary-turnover) Involuntary turnover is a departure the company initiated: a termination, a performance exit, or a layoff. - [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. - [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. - [Exit interview](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/exit-interview) An exit interview is a structured conversation with a departing employee about why they are leaving and what would have changed their mind. - [Flight risk](https://www.teampredict.ai/glossary/flight-risk) Flight risk is the likelihood that a specific employee leaves in the near future, based on observable signals rather than a manager's hunch. ## These pages on this site go deeper. - [Types of employee turnover](https://www.teampredict.ai/blog/what-is-employee-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#voluntary-turnover), where all 52 terms are defined.