Out of 1,470 employees, 237 have left the organisation, a 16% attrition rate. On the surface, that number may appear manageable. But when you disaggregate it by job role, satisfaction scores, marital status, age, and education, a far more precise picture emerges: attrition is not randomly distributed across the workforce. It is concentrated in specific, identifiable pockets, and that concentration is exactly what makes it actionable.

Not all roles carry equal retention risk, and the data makes that gap impossible to ignore.

Sales Representatives bear the heaviest attrition burden in the organisation, with 39.76% of the role’s headcount having left. Nearly 4 in every 10 Sales Reps walk out the door, a rate that points to structural issues in workload, compensation, or career progression specific to that role.

Further down the risk ladder, Laboratory Technicians (23.94%) and Human Resources (23.08%) both exceed the company average by a significant margin. These roles, while different in function, share a common theme: they are often high-effort, low-visibility positions where career advancement pathways may not be clearly defined.

At the other extreme, Research Directors (2.50%), Managers (4.90%), and Manufacturing Directors (6.90%) demonstrate strong retention. Seniority, autonomy, and compensation likely play a role here, factors the organisation can learn from when designing retention strategies for at-risk roles.

Bottom line: Sales Representatives are the organisation’s most urgent retention priority. Targeted interventions, competitive pay reviews, clearer progression paths, and workload audits, should begin here.

Satisfaction scores reveal the emotional and environmental conditions under which employees decide to stay or leave.

Across all four satisfaction dimensions; Job Satisfaction, Relationship Satisfaction, Work-Life Balance, and Environment Satisfaction a consistent pattern holds: employees who rate their experience at level 1 (lowest) leave at dramatically higher rates than those at higher levels. At score level 1, attrition ranges from 22.84% to 31.25% depending on the dimension, compared to 11–18% at the higher satisfaction levels.

Work-Life Balance stands out most sharply. Employees scoring it at level 1 show a 31.25% attrition rate, the highest single data point across all satisfaction categories. This suggests that when employees feel their personal and professional lives are out of balance, leaving becomes not just likely but probable.

What is also notable is the relative flatness between levels 2, 3, and 4 across most dimensions. The critical threshold is not the difference between ‘good’ and ‘great’, it is the difference between dissatisfied and minimally satisfied. Moving an employee from level 1 to level 2 yields the greatest retention dividend.

Bottom line: Identify and prioritise employees reporting the lowest satisfaction scores, particularly on Work-Life Balance. Early intervention at this threshold prevents the most attrition.

Marital status may seem like a peripheral variable, until the numbers make its relevance undeniable.

Single employees account for 51% of all attrition, despite not necessarily making up 51% of the workforce. Married employees follow at 35%, while divorced employees account for just 14%. The pattern suggests that single employees who may carry fewer financial obligations, have greater geographic flexibility, and face lower switching costs,are far more willing to leave for better opportunities elsewhere.

This does not imply single employees are less loyal. It does imply that the organisation’s current retention levers benefits, stability, long-term incentives may be better calibrated for married employees with families, inadvertently leaving single employees with fewer reasons to stay.

Bottom line: Audit benefits and engagement programmes for relevance to single employees. Flexibility, career development speed, and social connectivity tend to be stronger retention levers for this group than traditional stability-focused perks.

Age tells the story of where the organisation is losing momentum and it is happening early.

Employees under 30 account for 27.91% of all attrition, the largest share of any age group. This is the organisation’s entry-level and early-career population: the pipeline of future talent. Losing them disproportionately means the company is spending on hiring and onboarding without retaining the return on that investment.

The 30–39 age group contributes a further 14.31%, meaning that employees under 40 collectively account for over 42% of all departures. These are employees in their peak-development years, the most likely to be actively recruited by competitors and the most sensitive to perceived career stagnation.

Attrition drops steadily with age. The 40–49 bracket contributes 9.74%, and employees over 50 just 13.29%  a group that is smaller in number and typically more anchored to tenure-based benefits and proximity to retirement.

Bottom line: Early-career retention is the organisation’s most significant talent risk. Structured mentorship, fast-track development programmes, and clear 12–24 month progression milestones are the highest-leverage interventions for the under-30 cohort.

Education level adds an important layer to the attrition profile one that challenges some intuitive assumptions.

Below College graduates show the highest attrition at 18.24%, closely followed by Bachelor’s degree holders at 17.31% and Technical Degree holders at 24.24%, though this last figure likely reflects the overlap with high-attrition roles like Lab Technicians and Sales Representatives.

At the other end, Doctorate holders have the lowest attrition at just 10.42%, followed by Master’s graduates at 14.57%. Advanced degree holders tend to occupy more senior, specialised, and better-compensated roles which naturally correlates with stronger retention.

The implication is layered: employees with bachelor’s degrees or below who likely make up the bulk of the workforce numerically are leaving at rates that quietly erode organisational stability. Their attrition may be less dramatic than Sales Representatives, but the volume makes the aggregate impact significant.

Bottom line: Education-based retention programmes; tuition support, sponsored certifications, and internal upskilling pathways can serve a dual purpose: reducing attrition among bachelor’s and below-college employees while simultaneously building the organisation’s internal talent pipeline.