RRowan People Science
Retention research

Employee retention benchmarks by industry

Directional annual ranges to help people teams ask whether retention is unusual, where to segment next, and what not to conclude from one company-wide number.

By Rowan Research Desk | Published January 20, 2026 | Updated April 30, 2026

A useful retention benchmark is a starting point, not a target to copy. Industry mix, job family, geography, tenure, and the definition of a leaver can move the number enough to change the decision.

Directional annual retention ranges

Planning ranges used in Rowan advisory work
IndustryDirectional annual retention rangeStart by segmenting
Professional services78% to 87%Client-facing role and tenure
Technology74% to 84%Job family and manager change
Healthcare68% to 81%Clinical role, shift, and location
Retail57% to 73%Store, season, and employment type
Manufacturing71% to 82%Plant, shift, and skill group
Use these as planning ranges.They combine public employer reports and Rowan advisory observations. They are not a controlled benchmark cohort and should not be presented as a precise market average.

Calculate the rate consistently

For a simple annual view, divide the employees who remain at the end of the period by the employees who were present at the start, after applying the same inclusion rules to both counts. Record whether voluntary exits, involuntary exits, contractors, acquisitions, and internal moves are included.

For workforce planning, pair the retention rate with the number of exits. A high percentage in a small team and a small percentage movement in a large team can require very different responses.

Compare like with like

  • Use the same twelve-month window for every business unit.
  • Separate voluntary and involuntary exits before choosing an intervention.
  • Break out job families with different labour markets.
  • Check first-year retention separately from established employees.
  • Keep acquired teams and major restructures visible as annotations.

What counts as a good retention rate?

A good rate is one that supports the organisation's operating needs without hiding avoidable loss in a critical cohort. Start with the company-wide movement, then locate the roles and tenure groups driving it. The most useful comparison is often the organisation against its own prior period using the same definitions.

Questions to take into the review

  1. Which employee group explains most of the movement?
  2. Did the definition or workforce perimeter change?
  3. Is the movement concentrated in regrettable or hard-to-replace exits?
  4. Which manager, pay, workload, or mobility signal can be checked next?
This article provides directional planning guidance. It does not establish a universal target or show that a particular intervention will improve retention.