Replacing one UK employee averages around £30,614 (2014 figure), and the autism employment gap alone costs the economy roughly £14.5bn a year — so losing neurodivergent staff is a recurring, largely avoidable cost. No official UK source isolates a single "cost of losing neurodivergent talent" figure, so the honest answer pairs the two anchors that are real and datable.
The per-departure figure you can put in front of finance
The most-cited UK number is from Oxford Economics, working with the insurer Unum in 2014: replacing one employee earning £25,000 or more costs an average of £30,614. That breaks down into about £5,433 in recruitment and logistics, plus £25,182 in lost output while the new starter gets up to speed — a ramp that averaged 28 weeks. It is a 2014 figure, so treat it as a floor rather than a current price; wages and recruitment costs have risen since. The CIPD, the UK's professional body for HR, confirms that turnover carries substantial direct and indirect costs and tracks UK turnover at roughly a third of the workforce in recent years. The point stands whatever the exact pound figure: each person who leaves and has to be replaced is expensive.
The scale of the loss, and why it is avoidable
The macro anchor comes from the Buckland Review of Autism Employment, published by the Department for Work and Pensions in February 2024. It found that only around three in ten working-age autistic people are in work, against roughly five in ten for all disabled people and eight in ten for non-disabled people, and that the autism employment gap costs the UK economy about £14.5 billion every year. The qualifier the consultancy blogs miss is the one that matters most to you: the National Autistic Society, reporting on the same review, is clear that many autistic people who do get jobs leave because workplaces are not designed with them in mind, not because of capability. The loss is largely avoidable.
It is also a legal duty, not only a business choice. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers must make reasonable adjustments for disabled employees and must not discriminate against them. Autism, ADHD and other forms of neurodiversity can meet the Act's definition of disability where they have a substantial, long-term effect on day-to-day activities, and no formal diagnosis is needed for the duty to apply (Equality Act 2010, sections 6 and 20). Failing to make adjustments can be unlawful, and a tribunal claim is a cost in its own right.
The fix costs a fraction of the loss
Most of what keeps neurodivergent staff is cheap or free:
- flexible hours, a quieter workspace, written follow-ups to verbal instructions, and clear notice of change;
- a written record of agreed adjustments that moves with the person as their role changes;
- Access to Work, a Department for Work and Pensions grant the employee applies for, which pays for support beyond your own adjustments. The grant was capped at £69,260 a year in 2024-25; re-check the current cap, and note employed applicants faced a wait of around 37.5 weeks in early 2025, so start your own adjustments now.
Set against an average replacement cost north of £30,000, the spend on keeping someone is small. The Equality Act 2010 applies in England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has separate disability discrimination law.
Where the law comes from
Related
This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.