This study aimed to examine the main factors influencing employee retention at private universities in Kurdistan. A quantitative method was used to analyze the data in this study, the researcher prepared questionnaire and distributed in the private universities. The survey was divided into two sections; the first section was demographic analysis which started with respondent’s age, gender, and level of education. The second section of survey consisted of 28 questions regarding factors affecting employee retention. A random sampling method was used in this study. The researcher distributed 140 questionnaires, 115 questionnaires were received and being completed properly and 25 questionnaires were missing. Participants were varied as for age, gender and level of education. The findings revealed that the highest value was for job security, which demonstrates that the degree of employee retention increases by their job security factors.