What does your
unfilled position really cost?
Most vacancy calculators multiply a daily salary by a flattering factor and hand you a scary number. This one is built the way your accountant would build it: lost value creation, the cost of covering the gap, internal search — minus the salary you are not paying. Every input is yours to change, every benchmark is sourced at the bottom of the page.
10–15%. The German market average is 27.5%.
Our fee is success-based and calculated on the gross annual salary of the position — the same basis every recruitment agency uses, so the comparison is like for like. The figures below update with the salary you set above.
| Position level | Customary German fee | SkillIA (10–15%) | You keep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skilled worker 20–25% | — | — | — |
| Specialist 25–30% | — | — | — |
| Leadership 30–35% | — | — | — |
The number that actually matters
At the figures you entered, our fee costs you what 0 days of this vacancy cost. Every day earlier the seat is filled pays for a part of it. That is the entire commercial case, and it is the same arithmetic whether you hire through us or not.
The formula, in full
No black box, not even here. If you disagree with a number, change it — that is what the advanced inputs are for.
How the vacancy cost is calculated
Calendar days become working days first. Vacancy time is reported in calendar days, but output is only lost on working days: we multiply by 250/365. Calculators that skip this step overstate the result by about 46%.
Lost value creation = (revenue per employee × value-added share) ÷ 250 working days × working days lost × the share the team does not absorb. Value added is revenue minus material and subcontracting — what the seat really contributes to fixed costs and profit, rather than the whole invoice.
Cost of covering the gap = full daily labour cost × cover factor × the share the team does absorb × working days lost. Work that still gets done is paid for through overtime, subcontracting or temps, just not as salary.
Salary and on-costs not paid is subtracted. An empty seat draws no wage and no employer contributions. Leaving this credit out is the single most common way a vacancy calculator inflates its answer, and it is the first thing a finance director will strike out.
Internal search cost is a one-off per position, defaulting to €4,500 — the middle of published German cost-per-hire benchmarks. Turned-away orders default to zero and only count what you enter yourself.
Net cost = lost value creation + cover cost − salary not paid + search cost + turned-away orders. It is an estimate for orientation, not an audit — but it is an estimate built to survive being questioned.
Why the result is lower than other calculators
Because it credits the salary you are not paying, and because it counts value added rather than revenue. A calculator that multiplies a daily salary by a "value factor" and runs it over calendar days will typically produce three to four times this figure.
We would rather show you a number you can take into a management meeting than one that wins an argument until someone checks it. Even on this conservative basis, an unfilled skilled position runs well past our fee within a few months.
Where the sector benchmarks come from
Revenue per employee is derived from the Federal Statistical Office's structural data by sector — for example roughly €136,000 per person in the skilled trades and about €218,000 in construction. Value-added shares reflect how material-intensive each sector is. Vacancy durations come from the Federal Employment Agency's reporting on registered vacancies.
They are starting points for a conversation, not a verdict on your business. Every one of them is editable.
Sources
- Recruitment fees: BDU (Bundesverband Deutscher Unternehmensberatungen), Personalberatung in Deutschland — average fee of 27.5% of target annual salary (2024), and typical bands of 20–25% for skilled roles, 25–30% for specialists and 30–35% for leadership positions. bdu.de
- Vacancy durations: Bundesagentur für Arbeit, statistics on registered vacancies and the annual Fachkräfteengpassanalyse. statistik.arbeitsagentur.de
- Employer on-costs: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), labour costs and non-wage labour costs — around €23 per €100 of gross pay; average labour cost of €45.00 per hour worked in 2025. destatis.de
- Revenue per employee: Statistisches Bundesamt (Destatis), structural data for the skilled trades and manufacturing, 2024. destatis.de
- Internal search cost: published German cost-per-hire benchmarks, typically €4,500–4,700 on average and €3,500–8,000 in the Mittelstand.
Benchmark figures as at August 2026. Percentages are market-wide averages and bands, not the terms of any individual provider; your own quotation always governs.
Want to talk about your numbers?
Tell us briefly about the open role. We get back to you within one business day.