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Cost per hire calculator

See what it takes to make a hire, where your budget goes, and what your next hiring plan could cost.

Recruitment costs · INR · No sign-up required

Your recruitment costs

Sample figures — replace these with your actual costs.

Reporting periodCompleted hires in this periodCount joined employees consistently, not offers issued.

View cost per hire ↓

Enter all costs for the same period. Annual costs should be allocated to that period first.

Internal costsRecruiter time, interviews & hiring overhead

Recruiting team cost · ₹Only the portion of salary and benefits allocated to hiring in this period.Interviewer hours · totalTotal hours across all interviewers, not hours per hire.Interviewer cost · ₹ / hourUse a blended loaded hourly cost. Do not count this time again in team cost.Other internal hiring costs · ₹Allocated recruiting administration and overhead only.

External costsAgency fees, job boards, technology & checks

Agency & search fees · ₹Job boards & recruitment advertising · ₹Recruitment software · ₹Allocate subscriptions to this period; exclude amounts counted elsewhere.Assessments & background checks · ₹Referral bonuses paid · ₹Other external hiring costs · ₹For example, candidate travel or recruitment events.

Plan your next hiring budgetEstimate future spend at the same average cost

Planned hiresA scenario at the current average, not a vendor quote.

YOUR ESTIMATED COST PER HIRE

/ hire

Total recruiting spend

Completed hires

Where your hiring budget goes

View the full cost breakdown

Cost category	Period total

At the same average cost per hire. Role mix, volume and fixed costs can change the actual budget.

Understand your cost per hire

What formula does this calculator use?

Cost per hire = (internal recruiting costs + external recruiting costs) ÷ completed hires in the same period. Interview cost is total interviewer hours multiplied by the average hourly cost. Planned budget is the current cost per hire multiplied by planned hires.

Which costs should I include?

Include the recruiting share of team pay and benefits, interview time, agency fees, job advertising, assessments, background checks, recruitment software, referral bonuses and other relevant hiring costs. Allocate shared and annual costs consistently. Use either net-of-recoverable-tax or gross amounts consistently with your accounting policy; the calculator does not add GST.

What should I leave out?

Do not include a new employee’s ongoing salary, post-hire training, onboarding costs, vacancy losses or productivity estimates. Avoid counting interviewer time both in recruiter pay and interview hours. This tool measures recruitment spend, not the total cost of employing someone or the value of a hire.

Is a lower number always better?

No. Compare similar roles, locations and periods, and review speed, quality and retention alongside cost. A specialised leadership search and volume hiring should not be judged against an invented universal benchmark. Zero entered costs produce ₹0; that does not prove hiring was free.

Methodology and source

This calculator uses the common internal-plus-external recruiting cost formula described in SHRM’s cost-per-hire guidance. Your accounting scope determines comparability. It is a planning tool, not a certified benchmark or a TalentStack price quote.

All figures are in Indian rupees. Your inputs are calculated locally in your browser.

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