Employee Turnover Statistics

The average Australian organisation now sees around 15% of its workforce walk out the door each year, but that figure hides a lot.

Some businesses are running lean at under 10%, while a growing share, now more than a quarter of all organisations, are stuck above 20%. That's a level where the cost, skills gaps and burnout of a shrinking team start reinforcing each other.

At the same time, the reasons people leave are shifting: workload, culture and psychological safety are now doing as much damage to retention as pay, even in a labour market where fewer people are quitting outright.

This article pulls the sharpest, most recent data across industries, age groups, and company sizes to give you a clear picture of where retention stands in 2026 and what's actually working to fix it.

Overall Turnover Rates

• The average employee turnover rate across Australian organisations was 15% for the 12 months to June 2025, unchanged from the previous quarter. [1]
• 28% of Australian organisations report annual turnover of 20% or more, while 45% sit below 10%. The gap between well-performing and high-turnover businesses continues to widen. [1]
• Nationally, 7.7% of the Australian workforce changed employer in the year to February 2025, a slight decrease from 8.0% the year before. [2]
• 61% of Australian employees plan to change jobs in 2025. [4]
• 42% of employee turnover is considered preventable. [9]
• Only 19% of employees are now considered "highly engaged" at work, down from 23% in 2024. That's a warning sign for retention risk even in periods where quit rates look stable. [12]

Size & Industry Variation

• Small Australian organisations (2–19 employees) average 11% annual turnover, compared to 15% for medium organisations (20–199) and 21% for large organisations (200+). [1]
• Of all Australian industries, construction has the highest average turnover rate at 21%; distribution has the lowest at 13%. [1]
• Retail and hospitality has the highest proportion of businesses with high turnover: 40% of organisations in these sectors experience turnover above 20%. [1]
• Looking at actual job-changing behaviour rather than employer-reported rates, accommodation and food services has the highest job turnover of any Australian industry at 15.5%, ahead of other services, retail trade, admin and support services, and manufacturing. [11]

Why Employees Leave

• Excessive workload is the single most common reason employers cite for departures, at 26%. [1]
• The role itself being unattractive (anti-social hours, repetitive tasks) accounts for 21% of exits, matched by conflict or poor workplace relationships at 21%. [1]
• Too few learning and development opportunities (19%), lack of flexible working (18%) and low wages (18%) round out the top reasons. [1]
• Poor job security and leadership/management quality each factor into 17% of departures. [1]
• Lack of competitive salary is cited by 60% of employees as a reason they'd consider moving on, and inadequate recognition is a factor for 37%. [4]
• Only 1 in 3 Australian employees strongly agree they can speak up at work without fear of negative consequences. Psychological safety remains a largely unaddressed retention risk. [12]
• Employees in organisations with a poor culture are nearly four times more likely to be actively job hunting than those in a good one (57% versus 15%). [12]

Age & Generational Trends

• Workers aged 15–24 in Australia have a job mobility rate of 11.5%, nearly double the national average of 7.7%. [2]
• Job mobility is marginally higher for women (7.9%) than men (7.6%). [11]
• 86% of Gen Z employees are looking for a new role in 2025, compared with just 29% of Baby Boomers. [4]
• Of the 2.4 million Australians who started a new job in the year to February 2025, 40% were aged 15–24. [2]
• Employees with two years or less of tenure are 38% more likely to search for a new job in the next 12 months. [10]

Cost of Turnover

• Each employee departure costs at least 50% of that employee's annual salary, rising to 150–200% for specialist or senior roles. [1]
• Deloitte estimates the cost of replacing a single employee ranges from 1.5 to 2 times their annual salary. [6]
• 22% of Australian employers cite high turnover itself as a direct cause of further skills gaps within their organisation, and there's a statistically significant correlation between the size of an organisation's skills gap and its turnover rate. [1]
• 16% of employees across Australian organisations are perceived as not fully proficient in their roles. [1]

Burnout & Wellbeing

• 52% of Australian workers took at least one sick day in the past year despite not being physically unwell. [3]
• Of those taking non-physical sick days, 48% cited feeling mentally or emotionally burnt out as the reason. [3]
• 43% of Australian workers missed out on some of their annual leave entitlement; among workers aged 18–24, this rises to 55%. [3]
• 54% of Australian workers searched for a new job during 2025. [2]
• The proportion of departures driven by finding a better opportunity declined to 25% in 2025, down from 33% in 2022. This suggests more people are leaving out of dissatisfaction than genuine attraction elsewhere. [2]
• 86% of employees now consider their wellbeing as important as their salary when deciding whether to stay. [12]
• Only 1 in 4 employees feel their organisation genuinely cares about their wellbeing. Those who do are 34% more likely to stay and 56% more engaged. [12]

Retention Strategies & Investment

• Learning and development, flexible working, and wellbeing support are the three most-used retention measures among Australian employers, each deployed by 36% of organisations. [1]
• 58% of Australian employers plan to increase training investment over the next 12 months, up from 37% in early 2024, and 93% now maintain a dedicated training budget. [1]
• Where that investment is going: technical and practical skills (23%), management and leadership (15%), generative AI skills (11%), and digital literacy (10%). [1]
• Companies offering flexible work arrangements report a 55% increase in employee loyalty. [7]
• Organisations that promote internally retain employees 41% longer than those that do not. [4]
• Employees who receive meaningful recognition are four times more likely to be engaged and five times more likely to stay with their employer, yet only 22% feel consistently recognised at work. [4][5]

FAQs

Why are employees leaving at such high rates right now?

Burnout, lack of recognition, and no clear path to grow are quietly building long before people actually resign.

Does company size affect retention?

Yes. Smaller teams tend to retain better because employees feel more visible and issues get addressed faster.

Is it too late to act if turnover is already high?

No, but the longer it's left, the harder it is to break the cycle of skills gaps, heavier workloads, and further departures.

Is it all about salary?

Not anymore. Psychological safety, flexibility, feeling valued, and seeing a future at the company now matter just as much, and are often easier to influence than pay alone.

References

[1] Australian HR Institute (AHRI), Quarterly Australian Work Outlook, September Quarter 2025

[2] Australian Bureau of Statistics, Job Mobility, February 2025

[3] Employment Hero, Employment Uncovered 2025

[4] Perkbox, Beyond the Paycheck: Employee Retention 2025

[5] Perkbox, Beyond the Paycheck: Employee Retention 2025 (Gallup)

[6] Perkbox, Beyond the Paycheck: Employee Retention 2025 (Deloitte)

[7] Perkbox, Beyond the Paycheck: Employee Retention 2025 (Harvard Business Review)

[9] Paycor, 13 Employee Retention Statistics Employers Need to Know 2025

[10] Paycor, HR in 2025: Insights & Predictions

[11] Australian Industry Group, Factsheet: Labour Market Dynamics in Australia (updated 21 May 2026)

[12] WebMD Health Services, Employee Retention Statistics To Watch in 2026

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