Staff turnover is the number of people who left in a year as a share of your average team. In restaurants it is often very high. The biggest causes are usually unfair rosters, late or unclear pay, a poor first month and no path to grow, and all four can be fixed.
How to calculate staff turnover
An outlet with an average team of 25 that saw 15 people leave in a year has a turnover of 60%.
What turnover really costs
- Hiring: time spent on job posts, calls and trials.
- Training: a new cook or server is slower and makes more mistakes for weeks.
- Overtime: the rest of the team covers the empty shifts.
- Guests: service slips, and regulars notice new faces every month.
None of these appear as one line on the P&L. They hide in staff cost, food cost and lost sales.
Seven ways to keep good people
- Publish rosters a week ahead. Unpredictable shifts are one of the top reasons people leave.
- Pay on time, with a clear payslip. Late or confusing pay breaks trust faster than low pay.
- Plan the first 30 days. A buddy, a written checklist for the role and a check-in at day 7 and day 30.
- Show a path to grow. Helper to cook, server to captain: write down what each step needs.
- Feed people properly. Good staff meals and real breaks cost little and are noticed.
- Recognise good work in front of the team. Weekly, specific and fair.
- Ask everyone who leaves why. Keep a short exit log; the same reason three times is a fix you owe the team.
Track it like a cost
Review turnover every quarter, outlet by outlet, next to staff cost. An outlet with low staff cost and very high turnover may be saving money on paper and losing it in training, mistakes and guests.
Try it on your own numbers: Labour cost calculator, free and with no sign-up.
See it every day, not every month
Peasily runs rosters, attendance and salary for every outlet, keeps vacancies and joining in one place, and shows staff cost as a share of sales, so you can see which outlets keep their people.
Screens from the Peasily demo brand.
Questions
What is a normal staff turnover rate for restaurants?
Restaurant turnover is often very high, frequently above 50% a year and much higher in some markets and roles. Compare your outlets with each other and with last year rather than with one industry number.
Which restaurant staff leave most often?
Usually entry-level roles: helpers, dishwashers, runners and new servers, most often in their first few months.
What is the cheapest way to reduce turnover?
Predictable rosters published a week ahead, and pay that is always on time. Both cost almost nothing.
See your own numbers in Peasily
We'll walk you through it with your real menu and outlets.