Employee Retention: Why the UK Is Struggling

And How Coaching Can Bridge the Gap

Retention is the heartbeat of any business. Yet in the UK, too many organisations are losing talented people at an unsustainable rate. The average UK employee turnover rate is 35% (CIPD, 2024) - that’s more than one in three employees leaving their role every year. The impact is more than numbers on a spreadsheet: it’s recruitment cycles that never end, knowledge walking out the door and team morale stretched thin.

At Moco Coaching, we see retention differently. It’s not just about plugging gaps when people leave - it’s about building the culture, confidence and support systems that make people want to stay.

What the Numbers Tell Us

• UK turnover rate: 35% overall. Of this, 26.9% move to another employer, while 8% leave for reasons like study, retirement or career breaks.

• By industry: charities (19%), public sector (14.6%), and hospitality top the charts for churn(59.8%), while manufacturing sits lower at 8.1%.

• By size: small organisations (1–249 staff) face turnover of 18.2%, versus 13.6% for large employers (1000+ staff).

The cost: Oxford Economics estimates each leaver costs £30,614 to replace. For a 100-person company, that’s £1 million a year lost to churn. For 1,000 employees, it’s over £10 million annually.

The cultural toll: Beyond the financials, high turnover creates instability - managers constantly hiring, teams overstretched and morale eroded.

How the UK Compares Internationally

Contrast the UK’s average of 8 years’ tenure with other countries:

• Italy: 12.2 years

• France: 10.8 years

• Germany: 10.2 years

• Spain: 10 years

• Sweden: 8.1 years

Across much of Europe, attrition rates hover around 10–11% - less than a third of the UK’s.

Why the difference? Stability is embedded into the way businesses operate:

• Stronger cultural loyalty to employers.

• Long-term workforce planning (e.g. Germany’s Mittelstand model).

• Robust collaboration between companies, unions and government.

In the UK, by contrast, rapid labour market changes, less predictable hours (especially in hospitality and retail) and patchy support for career transitions fuel higher churn.

Where Moco Coaching Makes the Difference

The UK may not have Germany’s Mittelstand culture or Italy’s long tenures - but organisations here can create their own version of stability by investing in their people. This is where coaching becomes not just helpful, but essential.

1. Onboarding that Sticks

With 41% of employees quitting within 12 weeks (CIPD), Moco Coaching designs onboarding coaching to help new hires embed quickly, find their place in the culture and feel valued from day one.

2. Leadership that Retains

Managers are the number one factor in engagement. We coach leaders to communicate with empathy, manage flexibly and build trust - so people don’t just see a job, they see a future.

3. Development that Inspires Loyalty

Only 43% of UK businesses offer mature career development (LinkedIn Learning, 2024). Moco fills that gap by guiding employees to grow inside the company, instead of looking elsewhere.

4. A Safety Net for Life Events

Parental leave, burnout, illness or caring responsibilities can derail careers. Without support, people often step away permanently. Moco Coaching is the safety net, helping employees return with clarity, confidence and purpose.

5. Engagement Beyond the Basics

With only 31% of UK employees engaged (People Insight, 2024), coaching builds resilience, belonging and meaning - transforming workplace satisfaction into long-term commitment.

The Moco Coaching Perspective

The statistics paint a stark picture: UK businesses face higher turnover, steeper costs and lower tenure than many of their global peers. But numbers don’t tell the whole story - culture does.

Moco Coaching helps businesses design cultures where:

• Employees feel supported from day one.

• Leaders retain talent through empathy and clarity.

• Life’s inevitable transitions don’t mean an end to careers.

• Growth is not just possible but expected.

Because in the end, retention isn’t about stopping people from leaving. It’s about creating conditions where they actively choose to stay. And when employees grow roots, businesses grow stronger.