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Cost per Hire Calculator

Add up what each hire actually costs you, internal time and external spend, using the SHRM standard formula.

Your numbers

Recruiter time, interview hours, coordination, ATS share
Job boards, agency fees, checks, referral bonuses
Your cost per hire
 
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Where Compono fits

Cost per hire only tells you what a hire costs, not whether it was the right one. A cheap hire who leaves in six months is the most expensive line in your budget. Compono Hire runs the process every ATS runs, then adds behavioural and culture-fit data so the people you spend on are the people who stay and perform. Lyre's used Compono Hire to scale from 4 to 70 people across five continents in two years without losing fit.

See how it works

How it's calculated

Cost per hire follows the SHRM and ANSI standard: add your total internal recruiting cost (recruiter time, hiring-manager interview hours at their hourly rate, HR coordination, and the applicant tracking system (ATS) share) to your total external recruiting cost (job boards, agency fees, background checks, assessments, referral bonuses, and relocation), then divide by the number of hires. The SHRM 2025 benchmark puts non-executive roles at about US$5,475 per hire and executive roles near US$35,879. Agency fees typically run 15 to 25% of first-year base salary.

Common questions

How is cost per hire calculated?

Add your total internal recruiting cost to your total external recruiting cost, then divide by the number of hires in the period. Internal covers recruiter time, interview hours, and coordination. External covers job boards, agency fees, checks, and bonuses. This matches the SHRM and ANSI standard.

What is a good cost per hire?

The SHRM 2025 benchmark is about US$5,475 per hire for non-executive roles, rising to around US$35,879 for executive positions. Anything well above the benchmark usually points to heavy agency reliance or a slow process, both of which you can improve.

Why include internal costs?

Internal costs are real money. Recruiter salaries, hiring-manager hours, and coordination time add up fast and often outweigh external spend on volume roles. Leaving them out makes hiring look cheaper than it is and hides where you could save.

How do I lower my cost per hire?

Reduce agency dependence with stronger internal sourcing and referrals, speed up your process to cut wasted hours, and improve hire quality so you are not paying to replace people. Better fit at the offer stage is the largest long-term saving.

Figures are estimates using published benchmarks. Sources shown above; rates reviewed annually.