ED. 01 · 2026
Your last bad hire cost more than you think.
Salary is only the surface. Lost output, team drag, manager time, and delayed execution make the real cost far higher.
- 213%
- of salary lostSource: CAP
- 30–40%
- team dragSource: Gallup
- 80%
- turnover from hiring mistakesSource: HBR
team drag
5 people
detection
6 months
Live preview
calculatingTrue cost
$284,320
237% of annual salary
Productivity
$45k
Team drag
$135k
Manager
$15k
Replacement
$89k
Used by founders, COOs & people leaders
The hidden ledger
Most companies measure hiring on cost-per-hire. They miss the bill that arrives after.
Output collapses early
A struggling hire produces a fraction of expected output for months before anyone admits the problem.
The team absorbs the slack
Peers cover gaps, rework deliverables, and lose focus. Productivity bleeds across the org chart.
Leadership pays in time
Managers redirect 17%+ of their week to coaching, escalations, and damage control.
Methodology
Built on published research, not vibes.
Cost components are derived from CAP, Gallup, SHRM, and Harvard Business Review studies. Seniority multipliers reflect compounding ramp-up, opportunity cost, and decision-impact range.
lost_productivity = monthly × months_to_detect × 0.5
team_drag = monthly × teammates × 0.3 × months_to_detect
manager_cost = monthly × 0.17 × months_to_detect
replacement_cost = monthly × months_to_replace × 1.2
total = (sum) × seniority_multiplier