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Saratoga Workforce Index

First Year of Service Turnover Rate

Definition and latest national average benchmark

First Year of Service Turnover Rate

2022 National Average Value

35

%

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

What is the First Year of Service Turnover Rate? 

The First Year of Service Turnover Rate is defined as the percentage of employees who left the organization with  up to one year of service. 

What is the average value of First Year of Service Turnover Rate? 

According to the Saratoga Workforce Index, the national average First Year of Service Turnover Rate in 2022 was 35%. 

What is First Year of Service Turnover Rate by industry? 

The First Year of Service Turnover Rate has a high variance across industries. Bottom quartiles can be as low as 9.6% and high quartiles as high as 40%. If you want to know the benchmarks for your industry, please contact us.  

Where can I get First Year of Service Turnover Rate benchmarks? 

The annual Saratoga HR and Workforce Benchmarking Study releases the First Year of Service Turnover Rate benchmark for over 20 different industries each year. The national average is released as part of the annual Saratoga Workforce Index.  

How is First Year of Service Turnover Rate calculated? 

The First Year of Service Turnover Rate is calculated by determining the percentage of non-contingent employees with up to one year of service who voluntarily or involuntarily left the organization.  

What does a low First Year of Service Turnover Rate mean? 

A low First Year of Service Turnover Rate could indicate a successful integration of new hires into the organization. This could be due to a good fit between the hires and the organizational culture, appropriate job roles, and effective team dynamics. It could also suggest that the onboarding process and support provided have effectively facilitated employees' acclimation into the organization. This low rate could positively impact team productivity, stress and morale, and reduce costs associated with the recruiting process, compensation, and administrative elements. 

What does a high First Year of Service Turnover Rate mean? 

A high First Year of Service Turnover Rate may indicate a clash between hires and the organizational culture, a mismatch between hires and their job roles, or issues with team dynamics. A high rate may also underscore the fact that the onboarding process and support provided thereafter have not effectively facilitated employees' acclimation into the organization. A high First Year of Service Turnover Rate can negatively impact team productivity, stress and morale; time invested in training and onboarding new hires; and costs of the recruiting process, compensation and administrative elements. 

What other benchmarks are relevant to First Year of Service Turnover Rate? 

Other relevant benchmarks include:  

90 Day Total Turnover Rate 

One to Three Years of Service Voluntary Separation Rate 

Hire Rate 

Cost per Hire 

Promotion Rate 

Vacancy 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.