ASE in Troy, Michigan’s largest employer association, released its 2025 Employee Turnover Survey that shows voluntary turnover increased sharply over the past year to 16 percent from 10.1 percent.
The survey was conducted in January 2025, and looked at turnover from 2024. It captures both voluntary and involuntary turnover for the 2024 calendar year. It also examines other workforce metrics of Michigan employers.
Highlights of the ASE 2025 Employee Turnover Survey include:
- Total voluntary employee turnover increased to 16 percent, from 10.1 percent in 2023, signaling a rise in the quit rate experienced by Michigan employers.
- Consistent with last year’s data, the most common reasons for turnover among hourly employees were personal problems (family, health, etc.) (61 percent), better salary/compensation (53 percent), and retirement (28 percent). The most common reasons among non-exempt, salaried employees were better salary/compensation (56 percent), retirement (35 percent), and personal problems (family, health, etc.) (33 percent). Lastly, the most common reasons among exempt employees were better salary/compensation (63 percent), retirement (39 percent), and personal problems (family, health, etc.) (35 percent).
- According to participants, 2025 hiring will remain steady with nearly 58 percent keeping hiring activity similar to that of the previous year, while 16 percent plan to increase hiring compared to the previous year. The number of companies planning to decrease hiring in 2025 has decreased slightly, to 19 percent, compared to 22 percent last year.
- Conducting exit interviews (77 percent), improving the onboarding experience (60 percent), and compensation and benefit reviews (60 percent) were the most common steps taken to reduce turnover.
- According to recent data, 66 percent of companies encountered difficulties sourcing professional (technical) applicants, with 24 percent reporting it as ‘Very Difficult,’ and an additional 42 percent labeling it as ‘Somewhat Difficult.’
“The 2025 Employee Turnover Survey reveals an increase in voluntary separations, with the quit rate increasing from 10.1 percent in 2023 to 16 percent in 2024,” says Mary Corrado, president and CEO of ASE (formerly American Society of Employers).
“This underscores the critical need for organizations to proactively address employee retention through strategies such as conducting exit interviews, improving onboarding, and reviewing compensation and benefits, which were identified as common efforts by surveyed companies.”
ASE members can access the full survey report in the ASE Survey Library. Non-members can request to purchase here.
For the survey, 235 organizations from across Michigan participated. Organizations with 150 employees or fewer made up 64.3 percent of the survey sample, while organizations with between 151-300 employees represented 16.6 percent of the sample.
The remaining 19.1 percent of the sample came from organizations with more than 300 employees. A variety of industries have been represented in the survey, with durable goods manufacturing (43.8 percent) leading the pack. Trades and services (17.9 percent) were the second-largest industry representation.
ASE is a non-profit, membership organization strengthens organization’s HR departments by offering member benefits and discounted services that span the entire employee lifecycle, including recruitment, development, and retention while minimizing compliance risk.
In addition to Troy, the organization has offices in Novi, Grand Rapids, and Muskegon.
For more information, visit aseonline.org.
