The executive flight from Google (NSDQ: GOOG) in recent months is apparently causing some alarm in Mountain View, and Google is tackling the problem in the only way it knows how: with math formulas. The company has created an algorithm to determine which employees are likely to go next, according to a report in the WSJ. The results are based on employee reviews, pay and promotion histories. Cold, perhaps. But effective. Google says that the system has already identified employees who “felt underused, a key complaint among those who contemplate leaving.” It’s not clear what exactly Google then does to keep those people around.

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Google isn’t alone in mixing algorithms and HR, according to the WSJ, which quotes an expert who says, “They are clearly ahead of the curve, but a lot of companies are waking up to the fact that there is a lot of modeling that can provide you with critical data on human capital.” Google’s retention problems have accelerated this year. Among the employees who have left or have said they will leave: top ad-sales exec Tim Armstrong (pictured, right); Asia-Pacific and Latin America president Sukhinder Singh Cassidy; former Doubleclick CEO David Rosenblatt; VP of industry development and marketing Jeff Levick; director of product management Ien Cheng; and director of search and analytics Tom Phillips.