Staff turnover rates by industry UK: 2026 benchmarks

Replacing an employee earning £30,000 can cost a business as much as £60,000, factoring in lost productivity, recruitment expenses, and the time it takes a new hire to reach full effectiveness. For senior or specialist roles, total replacement costs can reach 150% to 200% of annual salary. Yet what constitutes a concerning turnover rate varies enormously between sectors. A hospitality business and a manufacturer may both lose staff each year, but the rate at which this happens, the reasons behind it, and the financial impact differ significantly.

This guide sets out the latest available UK turnover benchmarks by industry, explains how different sources measure turnover, and covers practical steps employers can take to improve retention.

Summary

• The UK average annual employee turnover rate is approximately 15%, based on CIPD employer survey data from spring 2025 [1].
• Hospitality remains the highest-turnover sector. RotaCloud's 2024 employer data placed it at 38.7%, rising to 47% in bars and clubs [3].
• Manufacturing turnover fell to 10.85% in 2024, its lowest level in at least a decade, with voluntary turnover at just 6.24% [4].
• NHS hospital and community health services recorded a 10.1% leaver rate in the year to September 2024, the lowest since the pandemic [5].
• Approximately 34% of UK workers say they are considering leaving their current role in 2026 [6].
• Rising employer National Insurance contributions have affected hiring and retention across the economy, with hospitality and care sectors reporting the greatest cost impact [7].
• Leadership quality is one of the strongest predictors of whether employees choose to stay, outweighing the influence of direct line managers [8].

How turnover is measured

Turnover rate is calculated as the number of employees who leave over a given period, divided by the average headcount, expressed as a percentage.

Turnover rate = (Total leavers ÷ Average number employed) × 100

Different sources measure this in different ways, which explains why published figures for the same sector can vary considerably. When reviewing the industry figures below, it is worth noting which source each benchmark draws from, as the employer-reported and population-level figures can differ substantially.

Turnover benchmarks by industry

Detailed industry-by-industry turnover benchmarks are not published annually in the UK. The most comprehensive cross-sector source is the CIPD's analysis of the ONS Annual Population Survey, where 2022-23 is the latest full period available [9]. More recent sector-specific data exists from RotaCloud (2024), Make UK (2024), and NHS England (year to September 2024). The contextual analysis on labour market conditions draws from CIPD Labour Market Outlook reports published throughout 2025 and into early 2026.

This means the industry breakdown in the table below represents the most recent data available rather than a snapshot from 2026. The figures remain the most widely used benchmarks for UK employers, but they should be read alongside the more current contextual data in later sections of this article.

The CIPD/ONS APS figures capture total churn, including moves to new employers and exits from work entirely. Employer-reported figures from RotaCloud, Make UK, and NHS England tend to be lower as they measure departures from a specific organisation only.

Sector analysis

Hospitality

Hospitality records the highest turnover of any UK sector across all data sources. The CIPD's population-level measure places it at approximately 52% [9], whilst RotaCloud's 2024 employer data shows 38.7% across hospitality and catering [3], rising to 47% in bars and clubs [3].

The sector's workforce profile contributes to these figures: a high proportion of lower-paid, shift-based roles, younger age demographics, and transferable skills that make moving between employers straightforward. The CIPD notes that where skills are more transferable and training costs are lower, higher churn is less financially damaging per departure than in sectors requiring longer training periods [9].

In 2025 and into 2026, rising employment costs have added further pressure. Half of hospitality employers reported that the April 2025 NICs and National Living Wage increases raised their costs to a large extent [7]. Many have responded by reducing staff hours or raising prices [7]. However, recruitment pressures in the sector have eased. By winter 2025/26, 55% of hospitality employers reported not anticipating problems filling vacancies in the following six months [10], partly because pay increases have made the sector more competitive.

Retail

Retail sits just below hospitality in most turnover rankings. The CIPD's population-level data places wholesale, retail, and repair of vehicles at around 42% [9], though employer-reported figures tend to be lower. Seasonal hiring patterns contribute to the headline number, as temporary staff taken on for peak trading periods inflate annual calculations.

Recruitment pressures have also eased here. The CIPD's winter 2025/26 data showed that 64% of retail employers did not anticipate problems filling vacancies in the near term [10].

For retail employers, it is worth separating turnover among seasonal and entry-level staff from turnover among experienced team members. The former may be largely structural; the latter is more likely to indicate issues worth investigating.

Health and social care

Healthcare turnover differs significantly between the NHS and private social care. NHS hospital and community health services recorded a 10.1% leaver rate in the 12 months to September 2024. This was the lowest since the pandemic and the second-lowest since 2010 [5]. NHS England's People Promise retention programme contributed to this improvement through initiatives including flexible working, team-based rostering, and staff listening sessions. Organisations in the pilot saw leaver rates fall by an average of 11.8% [5].

Social care faces more persistent challenges. 62% of care and social work employers anticipated problems filling vacancies in the months ahead [10]. Changes to immigration rules, including the closure of the Social Care Worker visa route for new overseas applicants and a raised skills threshold for Skilled Worker visas, have reduced a significant source of recruits [7].

Manufacturing

Manufacturing currently records some of the lowest employer-reported turnover figures in the UK. Make UK's Labour Turnover Report 2025 found that overall turnover in the sector was 10.85% in 2024, down from 16.12% in 2023 and 20.75% in 2022 [4]. Voluntary turnover, excluding redundancies, fell to just 6.24%, with retirement now the primary reason for departures [4].

This decline partly reflects a cooling labour market in which fewer external opportunities encourage employees to stay. It also reflects an ageing workforce. Whilst the low headline rate is positive from a retention perspective, it presents a knowledge-transfer challenge as experienced employees retire and take specialist skills with them.

Education

The CIPD's population-level data places education at approximately 34% churn [9], though this encompasses a wide range of roles and institution types.

The sector faces notable structural pressures heading into 2026. Higher education institutions are contending with falling international student numbers and financial difficulties [10]. The CIPD's winter 2025/26 data recorded a net employment balance of −15 in non-compulsory education and −24 specifically in higher education, indicating that more employers expect to reduce headcount than increase it [10]. Some turnover in the sector is therefore currently involuntary, driven by redundancies and recruitment freezes rather than employees choosing to leave.

Financial and professional services

Financial and insurance activities sit at approximately 27% on the CIPD's population-level measure, with professional, scientific, and technical activities at around 30% [9]. Higher salaries, older workforce profiles, and structured career pathways generally support retention in these sectors. However, the commercial impact of losing experienced staff can be significant where client relationships and institutional knowledge are concentrated in individuals.

Public administration and defence

Public administration and defence records the lowest turnover in the CIPD's industry breakdown at approximately 25% [9]. Job security, defined-benefit pensions, and structured progression contribute to this.

However, the public sector workforce is actively contracting. The CIPD's winter 2025/26 outlook showed a net employment balance of −11 [10], with civil service entrants decreasing by more than 30% between March 2024 and March 2025 [10]. Voluntary exit schemes and recruitment freezes across government departments mean that whilst turnover appears low, the sector is not actively replacing many of those who leave.

What's influencing turnover in 2025-2026

Rising employment costs

The April 2025 increase to employer National Insurance contributions, from 13.8% to 15% with a lower earnings threshold, has affected hiring and retention practices across sectors. 84% of UK organisations reported increased employment costs as a result, and 36% cited NICs as the single largest cost pressure of the past year [7].

Employer responses have varied by sector:

These responses can create secondary retention effects. Reduced hours affect employee earnings, fewer colleagues increase workload on those who remain, and hiring freezes limit career progression opportunities. These all feature among commonly cited reasons employees give for leaving.

A cooling but restless labour market

The CIPD's net employment balance, the difference between employers expecting to increase and those expecting to decrease headcount, fell to +9 in summer 2025, near its lowest level outside of the pandemic [7]. By winter 2025/26 it sat at a similar level [10]. Vacancies across the UK fell to 721,000 in the December 2025 to February 2026 period, below pre-pandemic levels [11].

In this context, fewer employees may act on dissatisfaction by leaving. However, that dissatisfaction does not disappear. Approximately 34% of UK workers say they are considering leaving their current role in 2026 [6]. Culture Amp's analysis of 10 million UK employee responses found that 23% planned to leave in the short term, a 3% increase on 2023 [8]. Ravio's 2026 Compensation Trends Report supports this picture, finding that UK attrition rose to 19% in 2025, up 11% on the previous year and above the European average of 17.4% [2].

Where employees stay despite wanting to leave, the result tends to be lower engagement, reduced productivity, and increased sickness absence.

The role of leadership

Culture Amp's data identified leadership quality as one of the strongest predictors of employee commitment to stay, outweighing direct line management [8].

This suggests that retention strategies focused on senior leadership capability, such as the ability to set direction, build trust, and communicate purpose, may be more effective than those targeted solely at line manager development.

Career progression as a retention driver

Ravio's survey of People and Reward leaders found that 82% cited lack of clarity around career progression and promotion paths as their top retention challenge, ranking higher than compensation issues (61%) [2]. Employees who cannot see where they are going within an organisation are more likely to look elsewhere. Clear levelling frameworks, defined competencies at each level, and regular development conversations all help address this.

Practical steps to improve retention

• Segment your turnover data. A headline turnover figure provides limited insight on its own. Breaking the data down by department, role level, tenure length, and whether departures are voluntary or involuntary helps identify where specific issues exist. High turnover among employees in their first six months may indicate onboarding problems, whilst departures concentrated among three-to-five-year employees may point to limited progression opportunities.
• Conduct structured exit interviews. Asking departing employees what would have made them stay, and looking for patterns across responses, can reveal systemic issues. If multiple employees in the same period cite similar concerns, that pattern is likely to be more useful than any single data point.
• Benchmark against relevant comparators. Comparing your business to the appropriate sector benchmark provides a more accurate picture than using the national average alone. A hospitality business with 30% turnover is performing well against the sector norm; a manufacturer with the same figure would be significantly above average. The tables above can serve as a starting point.
• Invest in onboarding. Early departures represent the worst return on recruitment investment. Effective onboarding can improve retention by up to 82% and productivity by over 70%. Practical steps include assigning onboarding buddies, scheduling regular check-ins during the first 90 days, and setting clear objectives with defined milestones.
• Review pay and flexibility. With median basic pay awards at 3% across all sectors [10] and inflation running above that level for much of 2025, real-terms pay has been under pressure. Reviewing pay against current market rates for your sector and region is an important part of any retention strategy. Where roles allow, offering flexibility over hours, location, or shift patterns also supports retention. The NHS's improvements were partly driven by giving staff greater control over their rotas [5], a relatively low-cost adjustment with measurable impact.
• Create clear progression pathways. Given that 82% of People and Reward leaders identified unclear career progression as their top retention challenge [2], defining what progression looks like within your organisation is worth prioritising. This includes clear role levels with defined competencies, regular development conversations, and visible pathways that employees can work towards.
• Develop leadership capability. Given the evidence on leadership's influence on retention, investing in senior leaders' ability to communicate direction, recognise contributions, and create a sense of purpose is likely to improve retention outcomes across the organisation. Regular coaching conversations, protected time for people management, and feedback skills development all contribute.

Using these benchmarks effectively

Turnover benchmarks are most useful when treated as reference points rather than targets. Consistently tracking your own turnover over time, segmenting it by meaningful categories, and comparing it to the most relevant sector data allows you to identify trends early and respond accordingly.

It is also worth noting that very low turnover is not always a positive indicator. It can suggest limited progression opportunities, difficulty addressing underperformance, or a lack of new perspectives entering the business. The aim is a rate that reflects healthy workforce movement for your sector and circumstances.

This article is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is accurate at the time of writing but may be subject to change. For advice specific to your situation, please consult a qualified professional.

[1] CIPD, Labour Market Outlook - Spring 2025, May 2025.

[2] Ravio, 2026 Compensation Trends Report, October 2025.

[3] RotaCloud, 2024 staff turnover data, reported via Retail Times, April 2025.

[4] Make UK, Labour Turnover Report 2025, May 2025.

[5] NHS England, Staff Leaving the NHS Among Lowest in Over a Decade, March 2025.

[6] Stribe, 20 Employee Retention Statistics and Figures 2026 (UK), December 2025.

[7] CIPD, Labour Market Outlook - Summer 2025, August 2025.

[8] Culture Amp, Predicted attrition data from 10 million UK employees, December 2024.

[9] CIPD, Benchmarking Employee Turnover: What Are the Latest Trends and Insights?, 2024; based on ONS Annual Population Survey, 2022-23.

[10] CIPD, Labour Market Outlook - Winter 2025/26, February 2026.

[11] ONS, Labour Market Overview, UK, March 2026.