Cost Per Hire Calculator
Total external and internal recruiting cost divided by hires actually made — including interviewer time, which is the line most often left out and frequently the largest on a competitive role.
Free · No sign-up · Nothing leaves your browser · Figures reviewed 22 September 2026
Your details
Hires, not offers. A high decline rate should raise cost per hire.
Total across all rounds and all candidates, not per hire.
Cost per hire
₹91,000
₹36,40,000 of recruiting cost across 40 hires.
- External · 46%
- Internal · 54%
External cost
- Agency fees
- ₹12,00,000
- Job advertising
- ₹1,50,000
- Referral bonuses
- ₹2,50,000
- Candidate travel and assessment
- ₹60,000
- Other
- ₹0
- Total external
- ₹16,60,000
Internal cost
- Recruiting team cost
- ₹9,00,000
- Tools and job boards
- ₹1,80,000
- Interviewer time600 hours at ₹1,500 an hour
- ₹9,00,000
- Total internal
- ₹19,80,000
Interview time is the line most often left out, and on a competitive role it is frequently the largest single item.
The ratio
- Total recruiting cost
- ₹36,40,000
- Hires made
- 40
- Cost per hire
- ₹91,000
- External share
- 45.6%
Divide by hires made, not offers extended. A high offer-decline rate raises cost per hire — which is the point of measuring it this way.
Cost per hire is only comparable within a role family. Averaging a bulk operations intake with a senior engineering search produces a number that describes neither.
Cost per hire is total recruiting spend divided by hires made. Two conventions decide whether the number means anything: include internal cost, and divide by hires rather than offers.
Interviewer time is the line people leave out. Five interviewers, four rounds, senior salaries — it adds up faster than an agency fee.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the formula for cost per hire?
- Total external recruiting cost plus total internal recruiting cost, divided by the number of hires made in the same period.
- Should interviewer time be included in cost per hire?
- Yes. It is real time diverted from other work, and on a senior or competitive role it is often the largest single component. Leaving it out makes in-house hiring look artificially cheaper than agency hiring.
- What is a good cost per hire?
- It is only comparable within a role family. Averaging a bulk operations intake with a senior engineering search produces a number that describes neither — split it by role type before benchmarking.
About this tool
Built by the ViniOffice team. Figures and rules last reviewed 22 September 2026 against the statutory reference this team maintains. Indian statutory rates are date-effective and change by notification — confirm against the current one before running payroll or filing.
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