Retaining talent more difficult, in a company of 100 employees turnover costs 200,000 euro per year

Retaining talent is becoming increasingly difficult between salaries that do not grow in line with people's expectations and managers who manage teams according to outdated logics, based more on control and hierarchies than on delegation and the achievement of objectives. This is how Italy ended up at the bottom of the rankings in the international report European workforce study 2025 by Great place to work for the ability to retain people, which was carried out by listening to the opinions of 25 thousand employees in 19 countries. But beware, the issue should not be underestimated, warns Beniamino Bedusa, President of Great Place to Work Italy, because "the hidden costs of turnover increase the inefficiencies of organisations".

Based on a simulation carried out by Great Place to Work Italy, an Italian company of about 100 employees with a turnover rate of 10%, which is the average value for organisations operating in Northern Italy, will face about 200,000 euro in annual costs attributable to people leaving. "The hidden costs of turnover are among the most difficult costs for companies to identify, but they are precisely those that increase the inefficiencies of organisations due to the resources spent on selection, training and waiting for the new employee to reach the performance of the resigning employee," explains Bedusa, President of Great Place to Work Italia. "A good employer branding strategy, based on direct feedback from people, reduces recruitment and turnover costs, phenomena that are definitely on the rise, especially in the younger generations. Working on active listening and involving people, as is done through our Great Place to Work survey, generates a direct impact on employees' pride and sense of belonging, fundamental elements for building a solid, attractive and sustainable corporate culture over time'.

It turns out that in Italy, an average of 4 out of 10 employees say they want to change jobs during the course of the year: a figure 9 points higher than the European average of 31%. This is especially true for Generation Z, the latest entrants to the labour market who have higher expectations of company leaders and are more likely to leave if they are not met. At the European level, the countries with the greatest difficulties in retaining people are those in southern Europe including Italy, France, Portugal, Cyprus and Greece, as well as the UK, Ireland and Poland. France and Poland both have a rate of 38%, Portugal 37%, Ireland 35%, while Cyprus, Greece and the UK follow at 33%. Among the most virtuous countries on the issue of retention are Norway, with only 1 in 4 workers (25%) wanting to leave their workplace, the Netherlands and Germany at 23%, while Austria stands at 21%.

If we then broaden the analysis to the generations GenZ, in the 18 to 24 age group, registers the highest percentage (40%) of those who say they would like to change their work environment. In fact, younger employees have higher expectations of managers and company leaders and are therefore more likely to look for new professional opportunities if management promises are not fulfilled. The desire to change jobs decreases with age: 36% of frontline employees and managers who are between 25 and 34 years old say they want to look for a new job in the course of the year, a percentage that drops to 30% among those between 35 and 44 years old, to 28% in the 45-54 age group to 25% among the over-55s. Employee retention is a real problem and very much felt among European organisations, so much so that it is at the top of the agendas of companies' human resources managers. Despite this, however, efforts and investments to retain people call for a medium to long-term approach in order to avoid a costly turnover of so-called top performers.

Among the main levers organisations have today to retain people are hybrid working arrangements, which involve a balanced mix of office presence and smartworking and are among the main strategic levers for improving employee retention in organisations. Hybrid workers, in fact, according to Great Place to Work's European Workforce Study 2025 report, are less likely to leave their jobs: less than one in four hybrid workers (24%) say they will look for a new job, compared to 34% of those who work in the office and 37% of those who work remotely. This concrete competitive advantage is especially true for companies active in the technology, finance and professional services sectors, where employees can choose their work mode and when they do, in almost 6 out of 10 cases (57%), they choose hybrid. In many sectors, such as retail, hospitality and manufacturing, employees cannot choose smart working. Among the levers indicated by the experts of Great Place to Work Italy to encourage employee retention there are 8 to which to pay particular attention. The first relates to work-life balance, the second to salary, which must be adequate, the third to benefits and recognition, then trust between managers and employees, removal of barriers, career progression, training and attractive smart working policies.