Hidden Costs
The visible recruiter cheque is 30-40% of true hiring TCO. The other 60-70% is split across eight categories that rarely show up on the hiring P&L.
A new engineer typically operates at 40-70% productivity for 2-4 months before reaching full output. At a fully-loaded monthly cost of ~$19k for a senior, that is $15-30k of cost rarely tracked.
Typical range
$8k-$35k
Largest hidden line
Every day a senior engineering seat sits open costs the fully-loaded daily comp ($750-1,000/day). Stretch a 60-day fill to 90 days and you have added $20-30k of cost without changing your channel mix.
Typical range
$35k-$90k for senior
Often equal to recruiter fee
DOL- and US BLS-cited turnover-cost studies put bad-hire cost at 30-60% of first-year salary. For a senior at $175k that is $52-105k. Probability-adjust by your year-one attrition rate to budget realistically.
Typical range
30-60% of first-year salary
Probability-weighted
5-8 rounds x 3-4 panellists x 60-90 min each, multiplied by 4-6 finalists per hire. At $200-300/hour fully-loaded for senior interviewers, this is the second-largest hidden line.
Typical range
$3k-$9k per hire
20-30% of TCO
Engineering managers spend 10-25 hours per hire on spec writing, recruiter briefing, scheduling, debriefs, and offer calls. At $250-400/hour fully-loaded, this compounds across portfolios of open roles.
Typical range
$2-5k per hire
Rarely tracked
25-40% of senior candidates receive a counter-offer. Resolving them often inflates the offer 8-15% above the originally signed-out band. The downstream cost runs through the next four years of comp planning.
Typical range
$1-6k per hire
Senior-only
Laptop, peripherals, software licences, security setup, and IT-onboarding hours. Usually attributed to IT budget rather than hiring, which makes it invisible to engineering finance.
Typical range
$2-5k per hire
Buried in IT
LinkedIn Recruiter, SeekOut, Gem categories, ATS seats. List-priced at $170-1,000+/seat/month. Per-hire allocation drops at higher hire volume but is often invisible at low volume.
Typical range
$1-4k per hire
Allocation depends on volume
Sourcing
The calculator includes ramp loss, vacancy cost, and interview-loop hours as first-class line items, not afterthoughts.