Vacancy Cost Calculator

What vacancy cost is and how to use it

A vacancy is not just a missing person. It is a seat that needed to produce value, is not producing it, and is costing you in coverage, overtime, delays, and lost output while you recruit. Vacancy cost is the attempt to put a dollar figure on that drain, so you can compare it to what you spend on recruiting and retention.

How the calculation works

Start with the loaded daily pay for the role: salary plus benefits, divided by working days per year. That is the baseline value of one day of that seat being filled. The vacancy cost rate scales it: at 100 percent, one empty day costs as much as one filled day. For a revenue-generating role where the seat directly drives output, the rate might be 150 or 200 percent. For a support role where teammates absorb the work without strain, it might be 50 percent.

Multiply that daily cost by the time to fill and you have the cost per vacancy. Multiply by vacancies per year (headcount times turnover rate) and you have the annual drag. Average roles open at any moment is vacancies per year times time to fill, divided by working days.

The two levers

The annual vacancy cost depends on exactly two things: how often roles open (turnover) and how long they stay open (time to fill). Cutting time to fill from 44 to 30 days saves 14 days of cost per vacancy. Cutting turnover from 18 to 13 percent means 2.5 fewer vacancies a year at a company of 50. Both compound, and together they usually represent a much larger opportunity than any single recruiting hire.

How this differs from time-to-fill cost

The Time-to-Fill Cost calculator prices a single open requisition: the cost of that specific seat being empty during recruiting. This calculator takes the portfolio view: all the roles that open in a year, what they collectively cost, and what moving the levers saves. Use Time-to-Fill for a single req business case; use this one for workforce planning and retention ROI.

What vacancy cost rate should I use?

Start at 100 percent and adjust. A backoffice role where others fully cover the work might warrant 50 to 75 percent. A sales or clinical role where the seat directly drives revenue or patient load can run 150 to 300 percent. When in doubt, 100 percent is a defensible and conservative midpoint.

How is this different from replacement cost?

Replacement cost (often cited at 0.5x to 2x salary) covers the full cost of a departure: vacancy, recruiting, onboarding, and the ramp to productivity. Vacancy cost here is the narrower piece, just the empty-seat drag before a new person starts. They are related but not the same number.

What is a typical vacancy cost as a percent of payroll?

At average turnover and time to fill, most employers land between 3 and 8 percent of payroll. Higher turnover sectors like retail and hospitality can run well above that. If your number looks very high, check your vacancy cost rate assumption first.

Does this include recruiting costs?

No. This covers only the lost-productivity cost of the open seat. Recruiting costs (job boards, agency fees, recruiter time) are a separate line. The Cost Per Hire calculator handles those.