Vacancy cost calculator:
What a vacancy in your company really costs
A vacancy cost calculator determines what a vacant position costs a company economically – as a cost of vacancy from four blocks: lost added value, team overload, recruiting costs and lost onboarding time.
The Kooku calculator provides three values after four inputs: total vacancy costs, costs per vacancy month and a service recommendation by salary threshold. Data basis: Federal Employment Agency, StepStone, DIHK, Eurostat – as well as 7,800+ Kooku placements since 2014.
Vacancy Cost Calculator: What an Open Position Really Costs Your Company
A vacancy cost calculator determines the financial cost to a company of an unfilled position. Vacancy costs arise from lost value creation, team overload, recruiting expenses, and lost onboarding time. The Kooku calculator provides a reliable figure in 60 seconds, based on salary, job title, and duration of the vacancy, and automatically adjusts for payroll-related costs and role-specific value creation. You can find more information about vacancy costs and benchmarks in Germany here.
How does the Kooku Vacancy Cost Calculator work?
The calculator is deliberately kept simple and provides a reliable order of magnitude after four entries – without registration, without entering an e-mail.
What the computer deliberately does not do
It does not include a second decimal place. Vacancy costs are an estimate. Calculating them to the nearest euro suggests a level of precision that does not exist from a methodological standpoint. The calculator provides a reliable range that is sufficient for business decisions, not a precise figure suitable for auditors.
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What the results mean and how you can use them to support your case internally
The result is a range based on three assumptions: conservative, market-standard, and aggressive. It provides a lower limit and a realistic baseline, not just a single estimate. You can find more insights into benchmarks in Germany here.
When presenting your case internally to management, it’s best to cite this specific range rather than a single figure: the conservative lower bound as the minimum loss, and the market-standard figure as a realistic baseline. This way, your argument holds up even if someone questions the assumptions.
If you want to turn that number into a concrete recruiting plan, you can book a 30-minute consultation afterward. No obligation.
When External Support Is Cost-Effective
If the monthly costs associated with a vacant position exceed 5,000 euros and the position is expected to remain unfilled for more than 90 days, external recruiting support is almost always financially worthwhile. If those costs exceed 10,000 euros per month, the question is no longer “if,” but “which model.”
The formula behind the calculator: Sullivan, honestly explained
The standard formula in the market goes back to Dr. John Sullivan and is essentially: Cost of Vacancy = (annual salary ÷ working days) × vacancy duration × importance factor. Depending on the methodology used, the factor is between 1 and 3 and is intended to reflect the fact that the added value of a position is generally higher than the salary alone.
The formula is solid as a starting point, but has three weaknesses that are particularly significant in the DACH SME sector.
Firstly, it treats all functions equally. A sales manager with a clearly measurable sales contribution and an accountant with an operational support function have the same multiplier methodically. Economically, this is wrong.
Secondly, it does not take non-wage labor costs into account, although according to Eurostat data, the employer contribution in Germany is around 23.5% of gross wages (as of December 2025). Calculating without this factor structurally underestimates vacancy costs by almost a quarter.
Thirdly, it leaves out variable remuneration. For sales roles, this distorts the calculation considerably because the fixed salary often only accounts for 60 to 70 percent of the total salary.
The Kooku variant: three methodical corrections
Correction 1 - non-wage labor cost factor 1.28×:
Instead of calculating using the gross salary alone, the calculator multiplies by a factor of 1.28. This value covers the employer’s contribution to statutory social insurance (health, pension, unemployment and long-term care insurance) plus typical levies. The Eurostat range is 23 to 25 percent; Kooku deliberately calculates at the upper end so as not to embellish.
Correction 2 - Function-specific value creation logic:
For functions with a direct contribution to sales (Sales, Customer Success), the salary is not used as a value creation proxy, but rather a conservative ratio. If a sales manager typically contributes 3 to 5 times their salary to sales in the market, the economic vacancy gap is not the lost salary, but the lost sales contribution minus the saved remuneration.
Correction 3 - Conservative, market standard, aggressive side by side:
Instead of a single figure, the calculator shows a corridor with three assumptions. Conservatively, it calculates the pure salary loss plus non-wage labor costs. The typical Sullivan value creation logic is added in line with market practice. Aggressive also includes team overload and additional recruiting costs. Anyone who has to defend the figure to the management thus has three lines of argument instead of one.
Methodology transparency: How the Kooku calculator calculates
The calculator uses publicly available primary sources. Job vacancy periods are based on statistics from the Federal Employment Agency (as of February 2026). Market averages are taken from the StepStone Salary Report 2025, and non-wage labor cost factors from Eurostat data via Trading Economics (as of December 2025). IT-specific metrics come from the 2025 Bitkom studies, and macroeconomic labor shortage data from the 2025/2026 DIHK Skilled Labor Report.
What is in the computer and what is deliberately not
Included
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Gross salary x factor 1.28
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Vacancy duration in calendar days
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Function-specific multiplier: 1.5–2.2
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Quota logic for Sales/Cs
Deliberately not included
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Fire damage to open areas
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Long-term cultural costs
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Indirect innovation losses
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Knowledge-gap effects
Next Step
The calculator provides a reliable order of magnitude in 60 seconds. If you want to translate the figure into a concrete recruiting plan, you can book a 30-minute sparring session – with no obligation.
FAQ
The most common method is the modified Sullivan formula: annual salary multiplied by a non-wage labor cost factor of 1.28, divided by the number of workdays, multiplied by the vacancy duration, multiplied by a value-added multiplier (1.5 to 2.2, depending on the position).
For most functions, the extended Sullivan formula with non-wage labor cost factor and function-specific multiplier is sufficient. A value-added proxy logic should also be used for sales-related functions.
A factor of 1.5 is calculated conservatively, 1.8 to 2.0 is standard for the market, and 2.5 to 3.0 is calculated aggressively. Factors above 3.0 can only be used in C-level functions with a documentable contribution to value creation.
Lost added value, team overload, additional recruiting effort and lost onboarding time. Brand effects and long-term cultural costs cannot be clearly quantified and do not belong in a serious calculator.
“Vacancy duration” is the BA administrative metric. “Time-to-fill” measures the time from when a position is posted until the contract is signed. “Time-to-hire” measures the time from the first contact with a candidate until the contract is signed.
If the monthly vacancy costs exceed 5,000 euros and the position has been open for more than 90 days, external support is almost always worthwhile. Once costs reach 10,000 euros per month, the only question is which model to choose.
We recommend recalculating as soon as there is a noticeable change in salary levels, job functions, or the expected vacancy duration for a role—but at least once a year for key positions. The underlying market data from StepStone and the Federal Employment Agency is updated annually.
The calculator does not distinguish between an initial vacancy and a new vacancy following a failed probationary period. For a vacancy resulting from an extended probationary period, enter the additional duration of the vacancy as a new vacancy period; the cost logic, including payroll overhead and the function multiplier, remains the same.
That depends on salary, position, and the length of the vacancy. According to StepStone, the average cost in Germany is around 49,500 euros per position, or about 624 euros per day, with an average vacancy duration of 138 days. Use the calculator above to get the figure for a specific position in your company in just 60 seconds.
