The true cost of
recruitment.
A recruitment agency fee is the number you see. It is rarely the whole cost. Here's what hiring really costs, from agency fees to doing it yourself, and the bit nobody adds up.
The headline cost of recruitment is the fee, and it varies enormously by route. A traditional agency charges 15 to 25% of the first-year salary, so £6,000 to £10,000 on a £40,000 role. Fixed-fee recruitment does the same job for a set price from £1,999. Doing it yourself costs a few hundred pounds plus your time. But the true cost also includes the hours your team spends and the price of a role sitting empty.
Why the percentage
stings.
The contingency model charges a percentage of the first-year salary, typically 15 to 25%, paid when you hire. It made sense when reaching candidates was hard. Today it means the same work costs more simply because the salary is higher: a £30,000 hire and a £60,000 hire take similar effort to fill, but the second can cost twice as much.
Watch the terms too. Rebate periods can be short, and agencies usually keep ownership of the candidates they source, so the pipeline is theirs, not yours.
Cheaper in cash,
paid in time.
Advertise the role yourself and the cash cost drops to a few hundred pounds. With multi-board posting you can reach 10+ UK job boards from a single £399 credit. What you take on instead is the work: writing the advert, screening applicants, arranging interviews and managing offers.
For businesses that can spare that time, DIY is comfortably the cheapest route. The trap is under-counting the hours, or letting applications pile up in an inbox, which is where a good ATS earns its keep.
The empty seat
is expensive.
Whichever route you choose, the biggest hidden cost is usually the vacancy itself. A role left open means lost output, missed deadlines and extra load on the rest of the team, and it compounds every week. A bad hire is costlier still, once you count the salary paid, the time invested and the cost of doing it all again.
This is why the cheapest fee is not always the cheapest hire. A route that fills the role faster, and gets it right, often costs less overall.
One £40,000 role,
three routes.
Agency figure is the standard 15 to 25% of first-year salary. Workvine Fixed Fee and DIY prices are actual.
Match the route
to the role.
If you hire occasionally, have time to run the process and want the lowest cash cost, DIY is the obvious choice. If you want the role handled properly without a percentage fee or the time drain, Fixed Fee Recruitment gives you the full service for a set price. The percentage-based agency route rarely wins on cost; its case is convenience, and fixed-fee offers that too.
Recruitment costs,
answered.
Most agencies charge a contingency fee of 15 to 25% of the candidate's first-year salary, paid when you hire. On a £40,000 role that is £6,000 to £10,000 for a single hire, and it rises with the salary. Some also apply rebate terms and retain ownership of the candidates.
In cash, yes, by a long way. Advertising a role yourself across multiple job boards costs a few hundred pounds rather than several thousand. The trade-off is your time: writing the advert, screening applicants, arranging interviews and managing offers. For businesses that can spare that time, DIY is far cheaper.
It is more than the fee. Alongside the advertising or agency cost, count the time your team spends, the cost of the role sitting empty (lost output and pressure on the rest of the team), and the risk of a bad or slow hire. A cheaper fee that leaves a role open for months is not always the cheaper option.
Contingency is the traditional agency model: a percentage of salary, paid on hire. Fixed-fee is a set price for the full service regardless of salary. DIY is self-serve: you pay to advertise (from £399 with Workvine) and run the process yourself. Fixed-fee and DIY both remove the percentage, so the cost reflects the work rather than the pay packet.
Pay for the work,
not the salary.
Fixed price, no percentage, no surprises. See how Fixed Fee and DIY compare, or tell us about the role and we'll give you a straight number.