It may seem counterintuitive that talent attraction and retention remain among the top challenges facing businesses, especially at a time when job seekers appear plentiful. Even with job openings in Pennsylvania at a 5-year low according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers in the state continue to replace and recruit large numbers of workers each year. This makes talent attraction, retention, and advancement strategies critical to organizational success.
Turnover is a significant cost, yet few executives can clearly articulate what the value of turnover is for their business. When annual turnover was approaching 26%, Gallup estimated it cost U.S. businesses $1 trillion annually. Turnover varies widely by industry, role, and region. To give a sense of more recent benchmarks, an analysis by Turnozo as of May 2026 places annual turnover in the professional and business services sector at 54%, healthcare and social services at 33%, and manufacturing at 28%.
Failure to calculate and monitor the cost of turnover to your business is a mistake. When recruiting expenses, vacancy costs, lost productivity, onboarding, and training are accounted for, turnover can affect financial performance and long-term growth.
Furthermore, employee turnover is often preventable. At the end of 2025, Gallup reported that 51% of U.S. employees were either actively looking for a new job or watching for opportunities. Most workers intending to leave are seeking better pay or benefits. But pay only tells half the story. More than 1 in 4 employees report that their intent to leave is a result of either lack of opportunities for professional growth, workload and schedule inflexibility, or dissatisfaction with managers or organizational leaders.
Making this hidden cost visible enables leaders to develop a strategy to address the worst types of turnover: the attrition of top performers or those in hard-to-fill positions.
5 Steps to Reduce Turnover
- Calculate the cost of turnover for your own organization. Establish a process for tracking turnover and its associated costs. According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), replacing an employee typically costs between 6 and 9 months of that employee’s salary. Without this data, interventions to prevent turnover seem like business expenses rather than investments.
- Ensure managers, especially hiring managers, understand that employee engagement is their primary responsibility. Managers need training to learn how to model effective practices around role clarity, purpose-driven communication, demonstrating care and support, and coaching team members effectively. Often, hiring managers focus on filling roles, but retention starts before their first day on the job, with onboarding playing a critical role.
- Make sure that employees’ basic needs are met. If employees are struggling to afford housing, transportation, childcare, and groceries or have unmet mental health needs, expecting strong engagement and loyalty is unrealistic. Check out the ALICE data published by the United Way to understand basic costs of living for where you operate. ALICE stands for Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed. This can vary considerably by county and is worth comparing to your base compensation for every position, including shift work, in your organization.
- Make community connection a priority. Family considerations and life circumstances are among the leading drivers of turnover. And while many employers invest heavily in recruiting and even relocating talent, few invest in helping employees establish roots in their new community. Employees who feel connected to the community are significantly less likely to leave, even when approached by recruiters.
- Create clear career paths and learning opportunities for all employees. Employers often overestimate the power of compensation and underestimate the impact of employees feeling valued and respected, as well as the importance of professional growth opportunities. Consider leadership academies in collaboration with local colleges and universities, as well as skill certification courses and apprenticeships.
When you understand the true cost of turnover, you are more likely to align your talent strategy to the investments that will make the biggest difference. These investments may include community transition services for relocating employees, expanded paid parental leave, childcare benefits, or enhanced compensation and benefits packages.
With more than half of departing employees saying something could have been done to keep them, the lesson for employers is clear: turnover is not simply a cost of doing business. It is often a preventable expense and an opportunity to invest in strategies that help employees succeed at work and in life.
Katelyn Mack is President at LINC, a Lehigh Valley-based nonprofit that envisions communities and workplaces where everyone feels welcome, gets rooted, and thrives. LINC partners with employers to attract and retain talent by creating meaningful community connections that turn candidates into long-term employees. To learn more, visit www.linc-lv.org.
