According to Employer Branding Insights 2009, a survey conducted by Universum*, the global cost-per-hire benchmark (total recruitment costs divided by the number of positions filled) is 5,855 EUR. Compare this figure with the industry benchmarks below. Also, compare against your average cost-per-hire. How do you rank in the industry that applies to you?

Cost-per-hire in Euros, industry benchmarks

Source: Employer Branding Insights 2009

Advice: to offer a more accurate view of your cost-per-hire, break your analysis down by departments. Compare your cost-per-hire for the marketing/advertising department against the marketing/advertising industry above and so on.

How can you reduce this cost – which hiring costs are least efficient?

To more effectively determine your cost-per-hire as it relates to your EB, categorize cost-per-hire spend components into two areas: talent awareness and talent conversion.

1.    Awareness encompasses all the activities that introduce your employer brand to your target audience and attract them to you as a place to work (many of these costs relate to marketing, promotional activities on-campus, publication profiles, etc).

2.    The second category, conversion, focuses on specific tactics or activities that lead the candidate to choose you (e.g. on-site company visits for potential hires, etc).

Analyzing your overall spend and placing activities into these categories will help you identify inefficient components – those without a clear ‘home’ or purpose, or those that do the least to drive results in each area.

Looking at your cost-per-hire spending in these two categories will also help you answer an important question: does your spending breakdown – awareness vs. conversion – fit the state of your company’s current employer brand? For example, if your company has high levels of awareness or visibility, but struggles with in the final acceptance phase, does your spending reflect where your challenges lie?

Cost-per-hire is one metric to show value in your recruitment efforts, but the process in getting there is critical: analyzing the ‘where and why’ behind this number will improve your knowledge of your EB, and lead to better investment decisions

*From September to November 2008 Universum interviewed globally 875 HR professionals on employer branding related issues and trends. The results were published in March 2009 as Employer Branding Insights report. For more information about the report please contact

Michaela von Wendt, Country Manager

Mobile +358 50 582 2585,

Email prefix: Michaela.vonWendt

Complete email address: prefix@universum.se