Layers
2022 National Average Value
6
Layers
What are Organizational Layers?
The Organizational Layers metric reports the maximum possible number of reporting layers between the top C-suite and the lowest entry level employees. The top C-suite layer is included in the count of layers.
What is the average number of Organizational Layers?
According to the Saratoga Workforce Index, the national average number of Layers by organization in 2022 was six Layers.
How does the number of Organizational Layers vary by industry?
The Organizational Layers benchmark has a high variance across industries. If you need benchmarks for your specific industry, please contact the Saratoga team.
Where can I get Organizational Layers benchmarks?
The annual Saratoga HR and Workforce Benchmarking Study releases the Layers benchmark for over 20 different industries each year. The national average is released as part of the annual Saratoga Workforce Index.
How are Organizational Layers calculated?
The Organizational Layers are calculated by counting the number of reporting levels from the top C-suite to the lowest entry level in the organization.
What does a low number of Organizational Layers mean?
A low Organizational Layers value may indicate a flat structure with limited opportunities for career progression. It could also mean that the organization has a lean management structure, which can lead to faster decision-making and communication.
What does a high number of Organizational Layers mean?
A high Layers value is an indicator of the level of hierarchy and complexity within the organization. If the number of reporting layers is higher than that of peers, it may result in slow decision-making, delayed communication, accountability confusion, inefficiencies, and reduced organizational agility.
What other benchmarks are relevant to Organizational Layers?
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.