Glossary
What is cost of vacancy?
Cost of vacancy is the value a business loses for every day a role stays unfilled, most conservatively estimated as the employed cost of the missing person pro rata to the days open.
The conservative method takes salary plus employer on-costs, divides by working days, and multiplies by the days the role has been open. The real cost is usually higher: the work that does not ship, the revenue that slips, and the load on the rest of the team.
The figure matters because it reframes recruitment fees. A search that closes two weeks sooner is often worth more than the fee, which is why speed of process is a financial decision rather than an HR one.
How do I calculate the cost of an open engineering role?
Add employer National Insurance and pension to the base salary, divide by 260 working days, and multiply by the days open. Our free calculator does this with the published UK rates.