thrive at work/Cost of Burnout Calculator

Free tool · Cost of burnout

What is burnout costing your organization?

Q: How much does employee burnout cost?

Burnout cost is driven mainly by three things: turnover (burned-out employees are far more likely to leave, and replacement typically costs a large fraction of annual salary), lost productivity while still at work, and added absenteeism. For a 1,000-person organization with an average salary around 60,000, the combined annual cost commonly runs into the millions. Use the calculator to estimate it for your own headcount, salary and sector.

Q: How is the cost of burnout calculated?

This calculator estimates a sector-adjusted burnout rate, then sums three components: turnover cost (burnout-attributable departures × replacement cost), lost productivity (a presenteeism factor applied to burned-out staff), and absenteeism (extra sick days valued at daily salary). Every assumption is shown and sourced; figures are directional estimates, not a forecast.

Q: Why does measuring capacity reduce burnout cost?

Most of the cost comes from burnout that is caught too late — at the exit interview. Measuring capacity alongside engagement surfaces depleted-but-committed teams a cycle or two before sentiment or attrition move, so leaders can act while the problem is still reversible.

Burnout shows up on the P&L long before it shows up in an engagement survey — as turnover, lost output and absence. Estimate the annual cost for your own headcount, salary and sector. Every assumption is shown and sourced.

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Your organization · adjust the four inputs

Headcount 1,000

5020,000

Total employees — scales every figure below.

Average salary

Fully-loaded average — sets the cost of each departure and lost day.

Sector

Sets the share of staff in a burnout-risk state (22–34%).

Current annual attrition 15%

3%40%

Your voluntary leaver rate — drives the turnover & vacancy lines.

Currency

Estimates are directional, based on published ranges (see method below). Adjust to your own numbers.

Estimated annual cost of burnout

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Turnover & replacement—

Vacancy & ramp-up—

Lost productivity—

Absenteeism—

Recoverable with early measurement

—

Modeled annual benefit of catching depletion a cycle early — fewer burnout-driven exits and recovered productivity.

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people likely engaged but depleted — the pre-burnout group an engagement survey can't see, and where the cost concentrates.

Get the measured number →

Results combine published prevalence and replacement-cost ranges with thrive at work's validation study (n=10,000+). Directional estimates to build a business case — not a guarantee of savings.

How this is calculated.

We estimate a sector-adjusted burnout rate for your workforce, then sum the four ways burnout converts into cost. Everything here is deliberately conservative and fully visible — it's a directional estimate to start a conversation, not a forecast.

Burnout rate

A sector baseline (22%–34% of staff), drawn from published prevalence ranges. Healthcare and public-sector roles sit highest; manufacturing lowest.

Turnover cost

We take your annual attrition, attribute ~40% of it to burnout, and value replacement (recruiting + admin) at 0.40× salary.

Vacancy & ramp

Each burnout-driven departure also loses output during the vacancy and the new hire's ramp to full productivity — valued at 0.35× salary. Replacement + vacancy together (0.75×) sit at the conservative end of the published 0.5×–2× range.

Lost productivity

Burned-out employees who stay still lose output (presenteeism). We apply a 15% effective-productivity loss to the burned-out share of payroll.

Absenteeism

We add 4 extra absence days per burned-out employee per year, valued at daily salary (salary ÷ 260 working days).

Recoverable

Catching depletion a cycle early prevents a share of burnout-driven exits and recovers lost productivity. We model the recoverable benefit at ~30% of the total cost.

Range

The headline is a midpoint; the range spans roughly 0.7×–1.4× to reflect the uncertainty in every input.

Capacity-gap estimate: roughly one in five employees fits the "engaged but depleted" profile in our data — shown here as an indicative count, not a measurement of your workforce.

Gallup — State of the Global Workplace, 2024. Burnout prevalence and its link to turnover intent.
SHRM / Gallup — Cost of replacing an employee. Replacement cost commonly estimated at one-half to two times annual salary.
McKinsey Health Institute, 2023; Mental Health UK — Burnout Report, 2024. Sector burnout-prevalence ranges.
thrive at work — validation study, n=10,000+, 2025–26. The capacity gap and the "engaged but depleted" share.

Common questions

How much does employee burnout cost?

It's driven mainly by turnover, lost productivity and absenteeism. For a 1,000-person organization on an average salary around 60,000, the combined annual cost commonly runs into the millions. Enter your own headcount, salary and sector above for an estimate.

How is the cost of burnout calculated?

A sector-adjusted burnout rate, then four components: turnover (attributable departures × 0.40× salary replacement), vacancy & ramp (0.35× salary in lost output), lost productivity (15% presenteeism loss on burned-out staff), and absenteeism (4 extra days at daily salary). Every assumption is listed in the method section above.

Why does measuring capacity reduce the cost?

Most of the cost comes from burnout caught too late. Measuring capacity alongside engagement surfaces depleted-but-committed teams a cycle or two before sentiment or attrition move — while it's still reversible. See the science →