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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

The hire you're thinking about

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.
True annual cost
£41,848
1.39× the headline salary · £20.12/hr · £160.95/day
Base salary£30,000
Employer NI (15% above £5k)£3,750
Pension contribution£900
Holiday accrual (12.07%)£3,621
Sick days at full pay£577
Training & development£500
Equipment & IT£500
Recruitment cost (year one)£2,000
Compare to agency rates
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Why this matters

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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