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Cost Of A Vacancy Calculator

Estimate what it costs when a critical role sits empty: the value that slips while it is vacant, the cost of cover, the search and the months before a new person is fully productive, net of the salary saved.

Your Estimates

Replace the example values with your own. The examples illustrate the arithmetic and are not benchmarks.

Base salary for the position, before benefits.
$
Revenue, margin, output or budget the role delivers or protects in a year.
$
The part that slips, stalls or is lost with no one in the seat.
%
From the day it falls vacant to the day the new person starts.
months
Time until the new person delivers what the role requires.
months
How much of the role's output the new person delivers while learning.
%
Interim managers, contractors or overtime paid to keep the work moving.
$
Agency fee or the internal cost of the search, as a share of salary.
% of salary
Development, assignments and coaching for a named successor over a year.
$

Estimated Cost Of This Vacancy

$122,667

For one vacancy, from the day the role falls empty to the day the new person is fully productive.

Value lost while emptyvalue × share at risk × months to fill ÷ 12
$66,667
Cost of covermonthly cover × months to fill
$32,000
Recruitmentsalary × recruitment cost
$24,000
Ramp-up shortfallvalue × share at risk × (1 − productivity) × ramp months ÷ 12
$40,000
Less salary saved while emptysalary × months to fill ÷ 12
-$40,000
Add the cost of preparing an internal successor to compare it with the cost of the vacancy.

An estimate built only from the figures entered. It leaves out effects that are hard to price, such as clients or colleagues who leave with the incumbent.

How The Estimate Works

The calculator adds four costs and subtracts one saving. The value lost while the role is empty is the share of the role's annual value that slips, for the months it takes to fill. Cover is what is paid to keep the work moving. Recruitment is the search cost. The ramp-up shortfall is the value the new person does not yet deliver while learning the role.

The salary not paid during the vacancy is subtracted, so the total is the net cost to the business. The share at risk is the figure that moves the result most, so agree it with the business leader who owns the role before the number is used in a decision.