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Saratoga Workforce Index

Average Number of Direct Reports

Definition and 2022 national average benchmark

Average Number of Direct Reports

2022 National Average Value

6.4

Director Reports/
Management

Value has
Very High
variance across industries
Value has
Medium
variance relative to revenue
Value has
High
variance relative to headcount

This metric measures the average number of employees reporting directly to a supervisor. Managers are defined as employees classified as Manager within the EEO1 job classification of “Officials and Managers”. This excludes project managers, directors, executive employees and supervisors who predominantly engage in the same activities as the employees they supervise. Supervisors are considered managers if they are classified as a manager in their EEO1 job classification.

A low Average Number of Direct Reports per Manager can indicate inefficiencies as higher-paid managers are not managing as many people as they could. A high Average Number of Direct Reports per Manager might indicate cost savings but also indicate limited opportunities for promotion and insufficient time for managers to adequately support their people. This can also create communication and decisionmaking delays.

About the Saratoga Workforce Index

The Saratoga Workforce Index is an indispensable reference of national averages of 30 commonly requested HR metrics. Based on PwC Saratoga’s annual workforce benchmarking study of over 1000 metrics spanning hundreds of companies and over 20 industries, the Saratoga Workforce Index is your “quick start” guide to workforce benchmarks.

Download the guide to see the national averages for all of these:
  • 90 Day Total Turnover Rate
  • Average Number of Direct Reports
  • Cost per Hire
  • Director Headcount Ratio
  • Executive Headcount Ratio
  • Finance FTE Ratio
  • First Year of Service Turnover Rate
  • General & Administrative Function Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Hire Rate
  • HR FTE Ratio
  • Information Technology FTE Ratio
  • Labor Cost Revenue Percent
  • Layers
  • Learning & Development Investment per Employee
  • Legal FTE Ratio
  • Management Headcount Ratio
  • Manager Headcount Ratio
  • Offer Acceptance Rate
  • One to Three Years of Service Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Promotion Rate
  • Racial/Ethnic Minority Headcount Percent
  • Racial/Ethnic Minority Promotion Rate
  • Racial/Ethnic Minority Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Revenue per FTE
  • Time to Accept
  • Time to Start
  • Turnover Rate
  • Vacancy Rate
  • Voluntary Separation Rate
  • Women Executive Headcount Percent
  • Women Headcount Percent
  • Women Promotion Rate
  • Women Voluntary Separation Rate

Need industry-specific benchmarks?

We provide these values as a reference point for discussions. However, given the high variance across industries, sizes and revenue, these national averages should NOT be used to make important business decisions or used in any formal reporting.

If you intend to use benchmarks for business decisions, please join Saratoga as a full member so you can have access to more specific comparison groups for each industry, revenue, size, profit/non-profit status and more. With a full membership, you’ll have access to over 1,000 metrics that are much more accurate and specific than a national average. The membership process is relatively simple, mostly automated and reasonably priced with a clear ROI.

Referencing Saratoga Workforce Index Data

If you choose to refer to these metrics in any of your materials, whether internally or externally, we ask that you include the following statement:

Excerpted from the Saratoga Workforce Index. © 2023 PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, all rights reserved. Data is for discussion purposes only and cannot be used for investment decisions or financial evaluations.

You may include up to five metrics in any internal or external publication without any additional permissions. Contact us at saratoga@pwc.com if you want to use more than five or would like to reproduce the Saratoga Workforce Index in its entirety.

About Saratoga

Saratoga workforce and HR benchmarks provide reference points for executive-level discussions,  context for people dashboards, and data to inform workforce and HR decisions. Hundreds of companies across over 20 industries trust Saratoga each year to supply over 1,000 validated workforce benchmarks around turnover, diversity, staffing, productivity, efficiency, fairness, and more. 

Request a demo of Saratoga to get access to industry-specific benchmarks for up to 1000 benchmarks.