January 22, 2026
A Bereave poll found 51% of grieving employees leave their job within one year, highlighting bereavement as a major retention and cost risk for employers.
Most workplaces believe they have bereavement covered. There’s a policy in place, a defined number of days off, and a general assumption that once that time ends, employees return and things slowly settle back into normal.
But loss doesn’t follow workplace timelines, and its impact rarely ends when leave does.
In a recent Bereave poll, 51% of employees who experienced a close personal loss reported leaving their job within one year. These departures didn’t always happen immediately, and they weren’t always framed as being about grief. Still, the pattern is clear. Loss and long-term employment outcomes are more closely connected than most organizations realize, especially when support ends at policy.
This data doesn’t tell us why each person left. What it does tell us is that bereavement is not a short-term disruption. It’s a sustained workplace reality, and one that carries real consequences for both people and businesses when it isn’t thoughtfully addressed.
We asked one direct question:
After experiencing a close loss while employed, did you leave that job within one year?
More than half of respondents said yes.
The poll did not ask for personal motivations, and we’re careful not to assign intent. The value of this data is in what it signals at an aggregate level: loss and employment outcomes are closely linked, even when leave is provided.
This result does not tell us:
It does tell us that a significant portion of employees who experience loss do not remain with their employer long-term, and that bereavement is a retention factor many organizations underestimate.
To better understand the 51% figure, we paired the poll with additional signals highlighted in the related LinkedIn article.
In that context, two themes stood out:
Together, these insights point to a common gap: organizations recognize that loss matters, but lack structure for what happens once it occurs.
We cannot say why any individual employee left. What we can say is that loss often introduces new realities that intersect with work over weeks and months, not just days.
After a loss, employees may be navigating:
When workplaces rely only on policy, these variables are left to be managed individually rather than systematically.
Without shared guidance, responses vary by manager, team, or moment. Over time, that inconsistency can create friction, confusion, or disengagement, even in otherwise supportive environments.
This isn’t about intent. It’s about design.
To understand the potential business impact, it helps to model what this data could mean at the organizational level.
Here’s a conservative example employers can adjust using their own assumptions:
Workforce research and U.S. labor data summaries commonly estimate that replacing an employee costs 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on role and seniority. This range includes recruiting, onboarding, lost productivity, and internal time spent filling the role, as reflected in analyses tied to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics workforce data.
If the average salary is $60,000, replacement costs typically fall between:
For 10 employees, that results in an estimated annual cost of:
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS) shows that voluntary quits are a steady and ongoing part of the labor market. Loss-related exits don’t replace other forms of turnover. They add to them.
For employers, that means grief-related attrition compounds an already costly challenge.
A bereavement policy answers one narrow question:
How much time off is allowed?
Policies rarely define:
When these questions aren’t answered ahead of time, decisions are made in the moment, often under emotional pressure.
Organizations that see better outcomes don’t try to manage grief itself. They manage uncertainty.
What consistently helps reduce avoidable turnover:
Structure doesn’t eliminate grief. It makes work more navigable while grief exists.
The 51% figure is not a judgment. It’s a signal.
Loss happens in every organization. The difference is whether there is a system in place to support people after it does.
When bereavement is treated as a short-term leave issue, turnover often follows quietly. When it’s treated as an ongoing workplace reality, organizations are better positioned to retain employees, protect teams, and reduce unnecessary financial and cultural loss.
How a workplace responds after loss is noticed. And over time, it influences whether people stay.
See how Bereave helps teams respond with clarity, consistency, and care.
Help bring Bereave to your workplace. Your co-workers will thank you.
