The Cost of a Bad Hire Calculator
See the direct cost of a hiring mistake, plus the risk exposure your role profile adds on top of it.
A bad hire costs more than salary. It can slow down work, drain management time, create replacement costs, and expose the business to risk — especially in roles tied to security, sensitive data, financial systems, or regulated environments.
Use this calculator to estimate the true cost of a bad hire for the role you’re filling.
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Direct costs only. Vacancy, ramp, recruiting, coverage, and compensation paid to a bad hire.
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0 of 8 risk factors flagged.
For scale: the average data breach cost 4.44 million dollars globally and 10.22 million dollars in the United States in IBM's 2025 study, and federal civil penalties for HIPAA violations reach 2,190,294 dollars per violation.
Sources: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025 (global average 4.44 million dollars, United States average 10.22 million dollars, intellectual property at 178 dollars per record the most expensive data type to lose). SHRM, employee replacement cost estimates of 50 to 200 percent of annual salary depending on level. HHS annual civil monetary penalty adjustment, Federal Register, January 28, 2026, HIPAA civil penalties from 145 dollars to 2,190,294 dollars per violation by culpability tier. Sources verified as of July 2026. Defaults in this tool are set toward the upper half of the SHRM range for mid level technology roles and can be adjusted above.