Most founders underestimate what a single departure costs. The invoice from a recruiter is the visible part. The ramp-up, the lost momentum, the manager hours spent rehiring instead of building — that's the part that actually moves your runway.
The calculator below gives you a defensible number in under a minute. The guide underneath explains what's inside it, and how to use the number to make better decisions about your people systems.
Cost of turnover calculator
Estimates are directional, not audited. Use them to size the problem, not to file taxes.
What's actually inside that number
The headline figure on most turnover calculators is "1.5× to 2× annual salary." That's a useful ceiling, but it hides where the money goes. For an early-stage company, the breakdown matters more than the multiple.
1. Recruitment fees and sourcing
Agency placements typically run 18–25% of base salary. Even if you hire in-house, sourcing tools, job board spend, and assessment platforms add up. For senior roles, retained search can push past 30%.
2. Ramp-up time
A new hire isn't producing at 100% on day one. For an IC role, expect 60–90 days to reach baseline output; for a manager or senior role, six months is realistic. That gap — the difference between what you're paying and what you're getting — is real cost.
3. Manager and team time
Every departure pulls a manager into interviews, debriefs, and onboarding instead of shipping. Multiply realistic hours by a loaded rate and you'll usually find this line item is larger than the recruiter invoice.
4. Lost team velocity
This is the part founders feel but rarely price. When someone leaves, the work doesn't pause — it gets absorbed, dropped, or redistributed. Projects slip. Context evaporates. Other people start updating their CVs. In small teams, one bad departure can stall a quarter.
How to use the number
The point of running this calculation isn't to scare yourself. It's to make the trade-offs visible.
- Hiring better the first time — investing in scorecards, calibrated interviews, and reference depth costs a fraction of one bad hire.
- Investing in managers — most regretted departures trace back to the relationship with a direct manager, not compensation.
- Building the foundations early — onboarding, leveling, and clarity of role are cheap compared to the cost of people leaving because none of those exist.
If your annual turnover number above is larger than the cost of fixing the system that's producing it, that's your answer.
Related reading
If you're sizing what to do about it, start with fractional HR vs a full-time Head of People or the fractional vs outsourced HR comparison.
The bottom line
Turnover is a tax on companies without people foundations. The number above is what you're paying. The decision is whether to keep paying it or to fix the system underneath.