What goes into the cost of a hire?

Two totals. The recruiting cost adds up what you spend to promote the role, team hours spent screening and contacting candidates, and interview hours — the internal and advertising share of the cost per hire used as a market benchmark. The full replacement cost adds the new hire's onboarding and training and the productivity lost while the role stays open.

How do you calculate the cost of turnover?

Multiply the number of departures in the year by the full replacement cost: everyone who leaves has to be replaced, and each replacement costs the recruiting, the onboarding and the days the role stays open. The turnover rate is a separate number: departures ÷ average headcount. The math leaves severance out, so it is a conservative estimate.

Are the values in the calculator market averages?

No. They are example numbers, only there to show how the math works. Hiring costs vary a lot between companies, roles and regions — replace each field with your company's numbers.

How do I estimate the productivity lost per day the role is open?

Two simple ways: what the role produces or sells per day, or what the company spends per day to cover the absence (overtime, temps). If neither applies, leave the field at zero.

How can I lower the cost of hiring?

The item that grows fastest over time is the open role: every day cut from the process lowers that cost. Organizing candidates in a pipeline, automating communication and screening resumes faster shorten the process and cut team hours.

Does the calculator save the numbers I type?

No. The math runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent to HireTree or saved.

Free tool

How much does it cost your company to hire someone?

Fill in your company's numbers to see the recruiting cost, the full cost of replacing someone, what turnover costs you each year and your turnover rate.

Calculator

The starting values are only an example to show how the math works — they are not market averages. Replace each one with your company's numbers.

Recruiting

Job ads and promotion

What you spend to promote one role: job boards, paid ads, boosted posts.

Team hours in the process

hours

HR and manager time spent screening resumes, contacting candidates and scheduling.

Team hourly cost

$/h

Monthly salary plus payroll costs, divided by the hours worked in the month.

Interview hours

hours

Add up the time of every interviewer across every interview for the role.

Interviewer hourly cost

$/h

Use the average hourly cost of whoever interviews, usually managers.

Replacement

Onboarding and training

Training, materials, uniforms and the time of whoever supports the new hire in the first weeks.

Productivity lost per day the role is open

$/day

What the company fails to produce or sell each day without the person, or the overtime it pays to cover the role.

Days to hire

days

From opening the role to the person's first day at work.

Turnover

Departures per year

people

How many people left the company in the last 12 months and had to be replaced.

Average headcount (optional)

people

Average number of people at the company over the last 12 months. Fill it in to see the turnover rate.

Result

Job ads: $300
Team time: $400
Interviews: $360
Recruiting cost per hire: $1,060
Onboarding and training: $1,000
Open role: $7,500
Full replacement cost: $9,560
Annual cost of turnover: $114,720; 12 departures × full replacement cost; Annual turnover rate: 20%

The math runs in your browser: nothing you type is sent or saved.

Methodology

How we calculate it

The math is open: simple sums and multiplications you can redo in a spreadsheet.

Recruiting cost per hire: Recruiting cost = job ads + (team hours × team hourly cost) + (interview hours × interviewer hourly cost)
Full replacement cost: Full replacement cost = recruiting cost + onboarding and training + (productivity lost per day × days to hire)
Annual cost of turnover: Annual cost of turnover = departures per year × full replacement cost
Annual turnover rate: Turnover rate = departures per year ÷ average headcount × 100

Hourly cost = monthly salary plus payroll costs ÷ hours worked in the month.

The recruiting cost starts from the usual definition of cost per hire (SHRM/ANSI), but counts only job ads, team time and interviews: since agency fees, referrals and software are left out, it tends to come in below market benchmarks. The full replacement cost is what each departure really costs, and it is the one that goes into turnover.

What is left out: pre-employment medical exams, agency fees or referral bonuses, assessments and recruiting software subscriptions, severance, the time until the new hire reaches the pace of the person who left, and the effect on the team. That makes the result a conservative estimate — the real cost tends to be higher.

FAQ

Questions about the cost of hiring

Fewer days with the role open, lower hiring cost

HireTree keeps the whole hiring process in one place, with email and status automations. Priced per open job, with unlimited locations and users.

Start free See the automations

Custom automations and AI resume screening are available from the Pro plan up.

Free tool

How much does it cost your company to hire someone?

Fill in your company's numbers to see the recruiting cost, the full cost of replacing someone, what turnover costs you each year and your turnover rate.

Calculator

The starting values are only an example to show how the math works — they are not market averages. Replace each one with your company's numbers.

Recruiting

Job ads and promotion

What you spend to promote one role: job boards, paid ads, boosted posts.

Team hours in the process

hours

HR and manager time spent screening resumes, contacting candidates and scheduling.

Team hourly cost

$/h

Monthly salary plus payroll costs, divided by the hours worked in the month.

Interview hours

hours

Add up the time of every interviewer across every interview for the role.

Interviewer hourly cost

$/h

Use the average hourly cost of whoever interviews, usually managers.

Replacement

Onboarding and training

Training, materials, uniforms and the time of whoever supports the new hire in the first weeks.

Productivity lost per day the role is open

$/day

What the company fails to produce or sell each day without the person, or the overtime it pays to cover the role.

Days to hire

days

From opening the role to the person's first day at work.

Turnover

Departures per year

people

How many people left the company in the last 12 months and had to be replaced.

Average headcount (optional)

people

Average number of people at the company over the last 12 months. Fill it in to see the turnover rate.

Result

Job ads: $300
Team time: $400
Interviews: $360
Recruiting cost per hire: $1,060
Onboarding and training: $1,000
Open role: $7,500
Full replacement cost: $9,560
Annual cost of turnover: $114,720; 12 departures × full replacement cost; Annual turnover rate: 20%

The math runs in your browser: nothing you type is sent or saved.

Methodology

How we calculate it

The math is open: simple sums and multiplications you can redo in a spreadsheet.

Recruiting cost per hire: Recruiting cost = job ads + (team hours × team hourly cost) + (interview hours × interviewer hourly cost)
Full replacement cost: Full replacement cost = recruiting cost + onboarding and training + (productivity lost per day × days to hire)
Annual cost of turnover: Annual cost of turnover = departures per year × full replacement cost
Annual turnover rate: Turnover rate = departures per year ÷ average headcount × 100

Hourly cost = monthly salary plus payroll costs ÷ hours worked in the month.

FAQ

Questions about the cost of hiring

Fewer days with the role open, lower hiring cost

HireTree keeps the whole hiring process in one place, with email and status automations. Priced per open job, with unlimited locations and users.

Start free See the automations

Custom automations and AI resume screening are available from the Pro plan up.