Recruiting Benchmarks: Average Cost-Per-Hire Was $5,100 in 2011-12
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
May 1, 2013
The average cost of recruiting a new college graduate during the 2011-12 recruiting season was $5,134, according to employers responding to NACE’s 2012 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey.
As might be expected, the average cost-per-hire is generally lower for larger companies. (See Figure 1.) The reason is that total costs are generally offset by the far larger number of hires they generate. For these firms, there are economies of scale inherent in spreading overhead costs, in particular, over a much larger base of new hires.
Figure 1: Cost-per-hire, by size of company
| Number of employees |
Cost-per-hire |
500 or less
|
$7,645.28
|
501 - 1,000
|
$6,634.85
|
1,001 - 2,500
|
$6,512.14
|
2,501 - 5,000
|
$11,365.37
|
5,001 - 10,000
|
$3,181.87
|
10,001 - 20,000
|
$3,737.47
|
More than 20,000
|
$2,885.68
|
Source: 2012 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers
NACE’s 2012 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey was conducted June 15 through August 15, 2012; 242 employer-member organizations took part.