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Cost of a Bad Hire Calculator

The real cost of a hire that doesn't work out is far more than their salary. Estimate yours.

Estimate the cost

Rehiring cost assumes you must recruit again (repeat recruitment + onboarding). Indicative model only — real costs vary by role and sector.

Fewer bad hires start with better vetting

Gangal's ATS ranks candidates on skills, compliance and reliability — and keeps a full audit trail — so agencies place workers who stick.

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Why a bad hire costs multiples of the salary

When a hire fails in the first few months, the salary you paid is only the visible tip. You also lose the money spent finding them, the time invested onboarding and training, the productivity that never materialised while they ramped up, the management hours spent trying to make it work — and then the entire cost of doing it all again to replace them. Added together, a failed mid-level hire routinely costs a business several times the person's monthly salary.

The components this calculator adds up

CostWhat it captures
Salary paidWages for the months before they left.
Recruitment costAgency fee or advertising spent to hire them.
Onboarding & trainingSetup, equipment, induction and training time.
Lost productivityThe shortfall while they were below full output.
Management & disruptionSupervisor time, team drag, missed deadlines.
RehiringDoing recruitment and onboarding all over again.

FAQs

How can agencies reduce bad hires?
Structured vetting, verified references and right-to-work, skills-based matching, and tracking reliability over time — so you place candidates with a proven record, not just an available CV.

Is this figure a guarantee?
No — it's an estimate to help you weigh the true stakes of getting a hire wrong versus investing in better selection.