— And Why It Matters More Than Ever
Understanding the true Cost Per Hire (CPH) has become essential for HR and Talent Acquisition teams trying to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Yet for many organisations, recruitment spend remains a black box: advertising costs tracked here, recruiter salaries budgeted there, and hiring manager time rarely measured at all.
At Hill Consulting HRS, we regularly help clients uncover the real cost of bringing a new employee into the business. The insights are often surprising—especially when hidden internal costs, productivity ramp-up time and tech investments are factored in.
To make this easier, we’ve created a Cost Per Hire Modelling Tool you can download and use immediately. It gives you a clear, structured way to calculate costs, compare roles, and model future scenarios.
(Download link at the end.)
What Is Cost Per Hire?
Cost Per Hire represents the total internal and external expenses involved in filling a role, divided by the number of hires made. While many organisations only look at obvious expenses like job ads or agency fees, a complete calculation includes far more.
The attached fact sheet breaks this down into categories such as:
– Advertising and sourcing
– Agency or RPO fees
– Systems and technology
– Recruiter salaries
– Hiring Manager time
– Assessment and medicals
– Onboarding
– Relocation or sign-on costs
– Lost productivity while a new hire ramps up
Why It Matters
A robust Cost Per Hire model helps organisations:
1. Make Better Budgeting Decisions
Understanding both internal and external costs prevents budget surprises and supports forward planning.
2. Demonstrate the Value of Talent Acquisition
Recruitment teams can clearly show where efficiencies are gained—and where investment is needed.
3. Compare Hiring Channels
Is agency use actually more expensive? How much does internal recruitment save? Data removes guesswork.
4. Model Changes and Scenarios
With rising labour costs, shifting talent pools and fluctuating volume, scenario testing is essential.
What’s Inside the Cost Per Hire Modelling Tool
The downloadable model gives you a ready-to-use, Excel-friendly structure that mirrors the fact sheet, including:
- Categories and cost items
- Unit and allocation methods
- Notes and assumptions
- A clear CPH formula
- Example calculations
- Ability to model by role type or function
You can calculate for single hires, annual hiring volume, or entire business units. Scenario toggles help compare “with agency vs without” or “low-volume vs high-volume” periods.
Download the Cost Per Hire Modelling Tool
Example: True Cost of Hiring a Technical Engineer
From the fact sheet, a typical engineer hire might look like this:
- Job ads: $1,200
- Agency fee: $12,000
- ATS allocation: $300
- Recruiter salary allocation: $1,000
- Hiring Manager time: $800
- Testing: $250
- Onboarding: $500
Total Cost Per Hire: $16,050
Download the Cost Per Hire Modelling Tool
And this is before factoring in productivity ramp-up or lost output—costs many organisations never quantify.
Download Your Free Cost Per Hire Model
To help Talent Acquisition Leaders, Business Partners, CFOs and Hiring Managers bring transparency to recruitment, we are providing the Cost Per Hire Modelling Tool as a free download.
Download the Cost Per Hire Modelling Tool
If you’d like Hill Consulting HRS to help you tailor the model to your organisation—or build dashboards, benchmarks or workforce plans—get in touch anytime.
