What does an internal hire really cost?
The £30k salary you see on the offer letter is rarely the £30k cost. Once employer NI, pension, statutory holiday, sick days and recruitment fees are loaded in, you're closer to £42k. Plug in your numbers and find out.
2025/26 UK rates · Class 1 employer NI · 5.6 weeks statutory holiday
Tell us about the role
Honest framing. Doesn't include management overhead, benefits or office costs. Most internal hires cost even more once those land. Numbers below are conservative.
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The hidden 30-40% on every internal hire
Employer NI
15% of every pound over £5,000 since April 2025. On a £30k salary that's £3,750/year before anyone's done a day's work.
Holiday accrual
5.6 weeks statutory holiday is 12.07% of working hours. £30k salary means £3,621 of unproductive but paid time.
Sick days
HMRC SSP is £116.75/week but most employers pay full salary for 5-10 days. For a £30k role that's £600+ of pay for no output.
Training + ramp-up
Industry average: 8-12 weeks before a new hire is at full productivity. The salary cost is real; the output isn't.
Recruitment fees
Job boards, internal HR time, ATS subscriptions, interview hours: typical loaded cost £1,500-£3,000 per hire even without an agency fee.
Termination cost
Statutory notice + redundancy if it doesn't work out. Agency workers don't carry this risk to your business at all.
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