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How to Fix the Employee Turnover Problem at Tech Startups
Strategies to get beyond vague platitudes when it comes to employee churn
The first thing I ever shared in my CEO peer group was that I had logged onto our HR portal and was surprised to see that my seven-year-old startup had just as many past employees as we had current ones. “Is this normal?” I asked.
Rather than be shocked or appalled, the others all immediately shared stories (and data) regarding their own struggles with attrition. In the year since, at least one of us brings up a topic related to employee turnover every time we meet.
Employee attrition is a fact of any business. The Bureau of Labor Statistics cites 3.7% as the average turnover rate for all employers in the United States in November 2019. A 2018 LinkedIn study suggests the turnover rate in the tech sector is much higher, and at 13.2% is the highest of any industry. Anecdotally, a tier-one venture capital firm told me their portfolio companies see an average of 25% turnover each year.
Given that no one talks about employee churn in tech startups other than in vague platitudes, I’m excited to share goTenna’s turnover data so we can have an open conversation about the realities every startup deals with. In addition, the CEOs of three other venture-backed…
