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Saratoga Workforce Index

Executive Headcount Ratio

Definition and latest national average benchmark

Executive Headcount Ratio

2022 National Average Value

135

Employees/
Executive

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

What is the Executive Headcount Ratio? 

The Executive Headcount Ratio measures the ratio of employees to executives. Executives include employees classified as Vice President and above, including the CEO. 

What is the average value of Executive Headcount Ratio? 

According to the Saratoga Workforce Index, the national average Executive Headcount Ratio in 2022 was 135 employees/per executive. 

What is the Executive Headcount Ratio by industry? 

The Executive Headcount Ratio has a very high variance across industries. If you need benchmarks for your specific industry, please contact the Saratoga team

Where can I get Executive Headcount Ratio benchmarks? 

The annual Saratoga HR and Workforce Benchmarking Study releases the Executive Headcount Ratio benchmark for over 20 different industries each year. The national average is released as part of the annual Saratoga Workforce Index.  

How is the Executive Headcount Ratio calculated? 

The Executive Headcount Ratio is calculated by dividing the total number of employees by the total number of executive level employees in the organization. 

What does a low Executive Headcount Ratio mean? 

A low Executive Headcount Ratio (meaning there are relatively high numbers of executives for the size of the organization) may indicate a top-heavy organization that may result in less effective decision making and reduced agility. Depending on executive compensation, it could indicate overspending on labor costs.  

What does a high Executive Headcount Ratio mean? 

A high Executive Headcount Ratio may indicate an organization is too lean at the higher levels. This could leave employees feeling unsupported and could ultimately result in higher voluntary turnover rates as executives may not have enough time to address employee issues appropriately or provide sufficient support and guidance. 

What other benchmarks are relevant to Executive Headcount Ratio? 

Management Headcount Ratio 

Director Headcount Ratio 

Average Number of Direct Reports 

Organization Layers 

Promotion Rate 

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.