How it works
Churn counts people moved, not move projects. If a team of twenty moves once, that is twenty moves. If the same person moves twice in a year, that counts twice. Dividing by average population turns the count into a rate that can be compared across sites of different sizes.
Organizations decide which moves count, and the choice changes the number a lot. The usual split is by move type: box moves where only belongings move, furniture moves where workstations are reconfigured, and construction moves that need building work. Many teams report each type separately, because the cost of each differs widely.
In HR and in software, churn means staff or customers leaving. In facilities management it means physical moves inside the workplace, which is why it is often called move churn. Shared, bookable seating changes the picture: people who book a different desk each day are not moving in this sense, so churn falls as fewer seats are permanently assigned.
Formula
Churn rate = (People moved in the year ÷ Average population) × 100
- People moved in the year
- Individual relocations completed in the period, counting a person again each time they move. Include team moves person by person.
- Average population
- Average number of people with a seat or booking rights in the organization or building over the same period.
Worked example · illustrative figures
- A building has an average population of 800 people over the year.
- Move records show team moves covering 260 people and 60 individual moves.
- 260 + 60 = 320 people moved.
- 320 ÷ 800 = 0.4.
Annual churn rate: 40%.
How to measure it
- Count from move records or changes in seat assignments, not from memory; moves outside the formal process are common.
- Split churn by move type (box, furniture, construction) and by site.
- Use the same definition of population every year.
- Pair churn with cost per move to see what moving activity costs in total.
Common mistakes
- Counting move projects rather than people.
- Missing informal moves people make on their own, which understates churn.
- Confusing move churn with employee turnover.
- Comparing sites that count different move types.
How Kadence helps
Kadence Move Manager (WorkOps Pro) keeps new starters, leavers, ad-hoc assignments and team relocations in one place, so completed moves are on record instead of spread across emails and spreadsheets. With team neighborhoods and bookable desks, many seating changes become a booking or a neighborhood update rather than a formal move.
SpaceOps · Desk booking software
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate churn rate in facilities management?
Count the people moved during the year, counting each person every time they move, and divide by the average population of the building or organization over the same year. Multiply by one hundred to get a percentage. Report box, furniture and construction moves separately if you can.
What is a good churn rate for an office?
There is no single target. Churn reflects how fast the organization reorganizes, hires and changes its space, so a growing company will run higher than a stable one. The useful questions are whether churn is rising or falling, which move types drive it, and what each move costs.
What is the difference between churn rate and employee turnover?
Employee turnover counts people leaving the organization. Churn rate in facilities management counts people moving within the workplace, such as changing desks, floors or buildings. A company can have low turnover and high churn if it reorganizes often.
Does hot desking reduce churn?
Usually, yes. When most people book shared desks instead of holding assigned seats, a reorganization often needs only a change to team neighborhoods or booking rules rather than physical moves. Churn then shifts from moving people to updating rules, which is faster and cheaper.
Related terms
- MAC (moves, adds and changes) The routine work of relocating people, seating new occupants and updating workspaces as an organization changes.
- Cost per move The average cost of relocating one person inside the workplace: total move costs divided by people moved.
- Move management Planning, sequencing and carrying out workplace moves, from one desk change to a whole-team relocation.
Sources
Kadence editorial team · Last reviewed