No fixed costs
Hire less, pay less. No extra overhead costs from a recruiter on the payroll.
Cost per hire calculator
Most companies don't know their real cost per hire, because it's spread across agency invoices, job board subscriptions, and the time recruiters and hiring managers spend on every vacancy.
What hiring costs you
Enter your annual numbers below to find your cost per hire, and see how it compares to a Partnership.
Put your own numbers in
Your hiring numbers
How you hire today
Set this to nothing if no one on your payroll recruits.
That is 1 of your 10 hires a year.
What it costs
20% is the market standard; agencies charge up to 25%.
Gross salary plus roughly 30% employer costs.
Your cost at 10 hires a year
What you pay today
€90,000
or €9,000 per hire
1 FTE in-house, 10% of roles outsourced, plus job boards and software.
With a Partnership
€70,000
or €7,000 per hire
A fixed price per vacancy, including 3 guarantees.
All through an agency
€110,000
or €11,000 per hire
A 20% fee on every salary, every hire.
The difference isn't only in the price
Here's what else a Partnership gives you:
No ramp-up
We can start directly with a warm network, instead of spending the first months building one.
Three guarantees
Delivery, replacement, and opt-out, included in every tier at no extra cost.
The right model depends on how much you hire
1–3 hires a year
A traditional agency
Too little volume to justify anything structural. Pay per placement and accept the fee.
4–15 hires a year
A Partnership
Enough volume that agency fees hurt, not enough to fill a recruiter's week. Agency reach at in-house cost, with a guarantee neither of them gives you.
16+ hires a year
A recruiter on the payroll
Enough volume to keep someone busy all year. At this point an in-house recruiter starts to pay for itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a hire typically cost?
- For a company hiring 8 people a year at an average salary of EUR 55,000, a 20% agency fee works out at EUR 11,000 per hire. A Partnership at that volume is EUR 7,500 per hire, all-in. Below that sits everything you already pay for job boards, software, and your own team's time, which is why most companies land higher than they expect.
Is a recruiter on the payroll cheaper?
- It depends on your volume. Below roughly 16 hires a year a full-time recruiter is rarely busy enough to pay for itself, because the salary runs whether you are hiring or not. Above that, an in-house recruiter starts to make sense. In between, a Partnership gives you agency reach at close to in-house cost.
Ready to build a high performing team?
We're the recruitment partner for start-ups and scale-ups driving the sustainable transition. Share your plans and the roles behind them, and we'll take it from there. Book a free 30-minute introduction call.