Recruitment Cost Calculator

Average UK recruitment cost is £3,000–£8,000 for standard roles including agency fees or advertising, interview time, and onboarding. For senior roles using executive search, costs reach 25–30% of first-year salary (£15,000+ on a £60,000 role).

Use agencies for: specialist/niche roles where you lack networks, urgent hires, roles where screening 100+ applications would cost more than the fee, or when you lack HR capacity. Direct hiring saves costs but requires more internal time and strong employer brand.

Standard contingency recruitment agencies charge 12–18% of first-year salary. Retained executive search firms charge 25–30%. Some agencies work on hybrid fees — partial retainer plus success fee. Always negotiate; agencies discount for volume.

Yes — poor hiring decisions can lead to dismissal and tribunal risk. Average unfair dismissal award is £12,000 (2025 ACAS data). Factor this into decisions about rushing hires versus thorough selection processes.

CIPD estimates a bad hire costs 2–3× annual salary. Beyond direct costs, factor in: team disruption, management time on performance management, client impact, and the cost of re-hiring. Prevention via thorough recruitment pays dividends.

Estimate HR/management hours: job spec writing (3–5 hrs), advert posting (1 hr), CV screening (5–15 hrs), interview coordination (3–5 hrs), offer/negotiation (2–3 hrs), reference checks (2 hrs). Multiply by hourly rate of the staff involved.

LinkedIn (effective for professional roles), Indeed (UK's largest free/low-cost board), Reed (strong professional coverage), Totaljobs, CV-Library. Government's Find a Job (free for employers). Sector-specific boards for specialist roles.

For true cost-of-hire analysis, yes. Employer NI (15% above £5,000/month) adds approximately 13.8% to salary cost from day one. Total employment cost for a £40,000 hire: ~£45,520/year.

Fixed-fee recruitment services (e.g. Flat Fee Recruiter, Hiring People) charge £500–£2,500 regardless of salary level. Suitable for high-volume or lower-skilled hiring where the fixed fee is significantly lower than a percentage fee.

Average time-to-hire is 27 days for internal HR and 36 days when using agencies (LinkedIn Talent Solutions 2025). Time-to-fill is often longer — vacancy duration averages 45–60 days for specialist roles. Each week of vacancy costs £500–£2,000 in lost productivity.

GDPR requires: applicant consent for data processing, retention limits (6 months post-process for non-successful applicants), secure storage of CVs and interview notes, and documented reasoning for selection decisions (protection against discrimination claims).

Yes — recruitment agency fees, job advertising costs, assessment tools, and recruitment software are all allowable business expenses for corporation tax purposes. Employee screening and background check costs are also deductible.