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Retention and Engagement Statistics

2017 Employee Engagement/Retention Statistics

• 51% of the U.S. workforce is not engaged (Gallup)
• Disengaged employees cost organizations between $450 and $550 billion annually (The Engagement Institute)
• 16% of employees said they felt “connected and engaged” by employers (EmployeeChannel)
• It can cost 33% of an employee’s salary to replace him/her (HR Dive)
• 75% of the causes of employee turnover are preventable (HR Dive)
• 63% of the workforce was engaged in 2016 (24% highly engaged, 39% were moderately engaged (Aon Hewitt)
• 34% of employees say they plan to leave their current role in the next 12 months (Mercer)
• 27% of employees change jobs each year, 17% are actively job-hunting and 46% are passively looking (ADP)

• 51% of workers are looking to leave their current jobs (Gallup)
• The average American worker spends 15 months in one role (Glassdoor)
• 50% of employees say that are planning to stay at their current company for two years or less (Execu-Search)
• 42% of employees earning $75,000 or more intend to quit in the next 6 months (meQuilibrium)
• 68% of Millennials say the longest they would stay at a job they like is at least three years (Qualtrics)
• 50% of referred employees stayed in their positions five years on average (SilkRoad)
• 35% of employees have changed jobs within the past three years; 91% of these left their company to do so (Gallup)
• 54% of Americans say now is a "good time" to find a quality job (Gallup)
• 37% of engaged employees are looking for jobs or watching for opportunities, as are 56% of not engaged and 73% of actively disengaged employees (Gallup)
• 51% of U.S. workers overall (60% of millennials) are considering new employment opportunities (Gallup)
• 41% of millennials expect to be in their current job for two years or less (compared to 17% of Gen X and 10% of Boomers) (Job Applicator Center)
• 51% of Millennials are planning to leave their company in the next two years, compared to 37% of GenX and 25% of Boomers (Lightspeed)
• 44% of millennial leaders say they intend to stay at their same company for more than 15 years; 29% of non-millennial leaders said the same thing (The Conference Board)
• 73% of employees are open to hearing about new opportunities (TopResume)
• 13% of employees say they love their job and are not looking for other opportunities (TopResume)
• 87% of employees say they’re “highly committed” to their organization  (ReportLinker)
• 40% of millennials say they are “somewhat” committed to their employer (ReportLinker)
• 66% of older employees say they are “highly” committed  (ReportLinker)
• 59% of employees would leave their profession if they could (CareerCast)
• Millennials are 50% more likely to relocate and 16% more likely to switch industries for a new job than nonmillennials (LinkedIn)
• 11% of employees say they don’t love their job, but they’re not sure if it’s time to leave it (TopResume)
• 3% of employees say they’re unsure of their feelings toward their current job (TopResume)
• 18% of employees don’t feel confident that an employer will take care of them (Job Applicator Center)
• 46% of employees would consider a job that matched their current salary or even paid less (ADP)
• Employees earn a 5.2% pay increase on average when changing jobs (Glassdoor)
• 62% of those with a postgraduate education say now is a good time to find a quality job (Gallup)
• 57% of those with an annual household income of $75,000 or more say it is a good time to find a quality job (Gallup)
• 49% of workers agree that their ability to find a new job has increased significantly over last year (Spherion)
• 56% of those who are employed say it is a good time to find a quality job (Gallup)
• 54% of those younger than 35 say it's a good time to find a quality job versus 48% of those aged 35 and older (Gallup)
• A 10% increase in base pay increases the odds an employee will stay at the company by 1.5 percent (Glassdoor)
• 90% of millennials would choose to stay in a job for the next 10 years if they knew they'd get annual raises and upward career mobility (Qualtrics)
• 52% of employees feel confident their employer will repay them for their loyalty  (Job Applicator Center)
• 76% of employees who do not feel valued are looking for other job opportunities  (Lifeworks)
• 90% of executives said keeping new hires is an issue in their organizations (Korn Ferry)
• 19% of executives said new hires, especially millennials, leave because they don’t like their organization’s culture (Korn Ferry)
• 90% of millennials said they consider a company's sustainability important, compared to 84% of GenX and 77% of Boomers (Lightspeed)
• 46% of HR pros list retention as their top challenge (Globoforce)
• 20% of employers have replaced nearly half of their staff in the last 12 months (Spherion)
• 78% of HR leaders are more concerned about the talent shortage today than they were a year ago (Spherion)
• 68% of the human resource professionals say last year they experienced recruiting difficulty and skill shortages for certain types of jobs (SHRM)
• 36% of businesses see engagement as a top challenge (Globoforce)

• 88% of businesses plan to improve employee engagement in 2017 (Virgin Pulse)
• 95% of human resource leaders admit employee burnout is sabotaging workforce retention (Kronos)
• 87% of human resource leaders say improved retention is a high / critical priority (Kronos)
• 24% of CHROs say engaging and retaining employees is their biggest struggle (Korn Ferry)
• 34% of companies focus on developing and retaining current employees (American Management Association)
• 86% of C-suite leaders and 76% of senior management say corporate America is headed in the right direction, compared to 54% of staff-level employees (Addison Group)
• 46% of human resource leaders say employee burnout is responsible for up to half of their annual workforce turnover (Kronos)
• 16% of HR leaders say a lack of budget is the primary obstacle to improving employee retention in the next 12 months (Kronos)
• 15% of HR leaders say a lack of funding is the biggest challenge to improving employee engagement (Kronos)
• Companies with more than 1,000 employees are 25% more likely to use software to measure employee engagement (Pomello)
• 14% of HR leaders say lack of executive support is an additional obstacle to improving retention in 2017; 13% cite a lack of organizational vision (Kronos)
• 50% of employees report feeling "neutral" or "disagreed" or "strongly disagreed" that the HR team made them feel more informed or engaged (EmployeeChannel)
• 78% of companies have a documented employee engagement strategy and nearly 50% measure success (Maritz Motivation)
• 62% of employers said that they would extend a counter offer in order to keep their best employees (Execu-Search)
• 55% of employees said that they would reject a counter offer from their current employer (Execu-Search)
• 60% of employers believe employees often hear about new job openings within the company, only about 30% of employees say they actually do (ADP)
• 83% of employees with opportunities to take on new challenges say they’re more likely to stay with the organization (ReportLinker)
• 55% of Millennials cite leadership opportunities as a key consideration (Impraise)
• 75% of small business employees are very or extremely happy working for a small employer (Aflac)
• 59% of small business employees say that what they respect most about their employer is that they provide a pleasant work environment (Aflac)
• 89% of employees age 71 and older say they are very or extremely happy working for a small employer, compared with 70% of workers ages 18 to 36 (Aflac)
• Top five reasons employees say they like working for small businesses: flexible scheduling (27%), seeing the fruits of their labor (23%), feeling their input matters (17%), being rewarded for hard work (14%) and getting noticed by people who matter (9%) (Aflac)
• 86% of small business employees say they know how their job fits into their employer’s long-term plans (Aflac)
• Employees who feel their voice is heard at work are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work (Salesforce.com)
• 78% of employees who say their company encourages creativity and innovation are committed to their employer (ReportLinker)
• 75% of employees reported they’re more likely to stay with their employer because of their benefit program (Willis Towers Watson)
• 56% of employees say additional PTO would make them more loyal to an organization (Fierce)
• 72% of employees say that having the ability to customize their benefits would increase their loyalty to their current employer (MetLife)
• 76% of millennials reported that benefits customization is important for increasing their loyalty, compared to 67% of baby boomers (MetLife)
• 62% of employees under 50 wouldn't consider working for a company that didn't offer voluntary benefits (BenefitsPro)
• 59% of employees say that health and wellness benefits are important for increasing loyalty to their employer (MetLife)
• 53% of employees said that financial planning programs are important for increasing loyalty (MetLife)
• 86% of employees said they’d stay with a company for at least five years if their employer helped pay down their student loans (American Student Assistance)
• 24% of US businesses employing hourly workers say employee retention is their top problem (Deputy)
• Highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability (Gallup)
• Highly engaged business units realize a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity (Gallup)
• Highly engaged business units achieve a 10% increase in customer ratings and a 20% increase in sales (Gallup)
• Teams that address engagement needs in their everyday work outperform bottom teams by an average 20% in sales and 10% in customer engagement (Gallup)
• 98% of HR professionals and 92% of employees surveyed said empathetic employers drive retention (Businessolver)
• 92% of employees say showing empathy is an important way to advance employee retention (Businessolver)
• 49% of employees would describe their organization as empathetic (Businessolver)
• 80% of employees would work more hours and 60% would take a pay cut to work for a more empathetic employer (Businessolver)
• 66% of employees agree employers should express empathy through benefit packages, rather than corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs (Businessolver)
• 53% of HR professionals say employee engagement rises when onboarding is improved (SilkRoad)
• 28% of new hires are willing to quit their new jobs if they don’t find it satisfactory in the first 90 days (Robert Half)
• 98% of executives say onboarding programs are a key factor in retention efforts (Korn Ferry)
• 33% of employers who have raised educational requirements have seen a positive effect on employee retention (CareerBuilder)
• 80% of HR leaders think their organizations will be affected by scarcity of talent this year (Randstad)
• 80% of employees felt more engaged when their work was consistent with the core values and mission of their organisation (IBM)
• 41% of employees strongly agree that they know what their company stands for and "what makes it different from competitors." (Gallup)
• A 10% improvement in employees' connection with the mission or purpose of their organization would result in a 12.7% reduction in safety incidents, an 8.1% decrease in turnover, and a 4.4% increase in profitability (Gallup)
• 30% of employees who work from home are engaged (Gallup)
• 54% of millennials would quit their job and start a business in the next six months if they had the tools and resources needed, compared to 41% of all adults (America's Small Business Development Centers)
• 63% of survey respondents say a pet-friendly office would make them more keen on a new job (Purina)
• 91% of employees say implementing pet-friendly policies would increase company loyalty (Banfield)