The Ultimate Guide to Calculating Staff Attrition

The Basic Attrition Formula

Calculating your baseline attrition rate is straightforward:

(Number of Departures / Average Total Headcount) × 100 = Attrition Rate %

For example, if you had 12 departures over the year and an average headcount of 50, your attrition rate is 24%.

Is Your Attrition Rate Dangerous?

A healthy benchmark for most tech and knowledge-worker industries is around 10% to 15%. If your rate pushes past 20%, you are in a high-risk zone for Turnover Contagion.

Contagion happens when departing employees normalize leaving, causing others to question their own tenure. This is especially dangerous if the people leaving are your top performers.

Moving Beyond the Percentage

Knowing your attrition percentage is only step one. The more important question is: How much is this costing your bottom line?

A 24% attrition rate on a 50-person team with an average salary of ₹15L doesn't just mean 12 people left. It means you are likely bleeding over ₹2.7 Cr in hidden costs and lost productivity every single year.