Higher Ed Workforce Turnover
As part of our annual workforce surveys, CUPA-HR collects information on turnover for higher ed faculty and staff, including involuntary separations, retirements and other voluntary separations. This page, updated annually, features turnover trends since 2017.
In the years prior to the pandemic (which began in March 2020), there was little variability year to year in voluntary turnover (voluntary separations not due to retirement). Voluntary turnover has always been highest for part-time non-exempt staff and lowest for tenure-track faculty. In the data collection period immediately following the pandemic’s onset (2020 in the figure below), there were slight dips in voluntary turnover for each category of staff and faculty, likely due to the economic uncertainty that characterized that year.
There were stark increases in voluntary turnover in the two years following, with rates peaking in 2022 for almost all employee groups. In 2023, voluntary turnover decreased for all employee groups. Turnover rates did not quite decline to pre-pandemic levels, but there was a marked shift in that direction. In 2024, voluntary turnover rates appeared to have stabilized for most employee groups. The exception is part-time employees (both exempt and non-exempt), where voluntary turnover meets or exceeds the levels seen post-pandemic. It is unclear why we are seeing this dramatic increase in voluntary turnover for part-time staff only.
In considering turnover from all types of separations (i.e., voluntary and involuntary), overall turnover of faculty and staff combined in 2024 was approximately 13.4%. Overall turnover in 2024 was similar to overall turnover in 2023. Turnover in 2024 was higher than pre-pandemic rates (approximately 12%), but lower than the 16% high of 2022 (CUPA-HR began collecting detailed turnover data in 2017).
In 2024, overall turnover was highest for part-time non-exempt staff (25%) and lowest for faculty (6.3% for tenure-track and 10.6% for non-tenure-track faculty). In looking at turnover by category, retirement rates were highest for part-time staff and tenure-track faculty. Retirement rates among non-tenure-track faculty increased from 0.6% in 2023 to 2.3% in 2024. Retirement rates for tenure-track faculty and full-time staff were similar in 2023 and 2024. Involuntary turnover rates were also highest for part-time staff. Involuntary turnover rates were lowest for tenure-track faculty (0.8%) and full-time exempt staff (1.8%).
Methodology and Notes
CUPA-HR collects the number of separations for staff and full-time faculty in the Institutional Basics section of CUPA-HR’s annual signature workforce surveys. Annual Turnover Rates = (# of separations over past year/ average # of employees reported last year and this year) x 100. The year calculated runs from November 1 to November 1, corresponding to the effective dates of data collection.
Data represent all institutions providing separation data in the Institutional Basics section of CUPA-HR’s Higher Education Workforce Surveys for both years of the calculated turnover statistic. The n for each data point varies but represents between 78 and 507 institutions.
Layoffs are not depicted, as these are essentially 0 for each category. To view turnover data for a custom comparison group, side-by-side with your institution’s turnover, for previous years, or with other statistics (including turnover at the 10th and 90th percentiles and specific n’s for each category), subscribe to DataOnDemand.
For each category of employees, median overall turnover will rarely equal the sum of median voluntary turnover, median retirement turnover, and median involuntary turnover. Each of these metrics are independently calculated to reflect the point at which half of institutions have higher turnover of a certain type, and half of institutions have lower turnover of a certain type.