Turnover can be voluntary or involuntary. Involuntary turnover is the result of termination and layoffs. Involuntary turnover is usually cost effective for the company. Layoffs usually occur when the company cannot afford to pay so many workers when times are difficult. Termination can be cost effective when you replace a non-productive worker with a productive worker.
Voluntary turnover occurs when the worker quits for any reason.
Voluntary turnover is very costly to any organization. There are many factors that may cause an organization to experience problems with high voluntary turnover. The economy plays an important role in turnover. If the economy is doing well there are usually more job opportunities than when the economy is strained. The less job opportunities there are the less likely employees will leave their current job no matter how displeased they are.