Free tool
Remote Staffing Cost Calculator
This remote staffing cost calculator compares the first-year and ongoing cost of a local in-house hire with a remote professional. It uses only the figures you enter: we don’t pre-fill salaries, rates or fees, and nothing you type is sent to us.
Compare a Local Hire With a Remote Professional
Fill in the fields you know. The local annual salary and the remote monthly pay are needed for a comparison; anything you leave empty is counted as zero.
Your comparison
Enter the local annual salary and the remote monthly pay to see a comparison.
Estimates based only on the figures you enter. This is not a quote or financial advice, and it leaves out costs such as taxes, compliance and exchange-rate changes. Confirm employment and tax costs with a qualified adviser.
How to Estimate Each Input
The calculator is only as useful as the numbers you put into it. Here is how to arrive at a sensible figure for each input, and where to find it.
Currency
Use one currency for every field. If you budget in US dollars but your local salary benchmark is in pounds, convert it first using the exchange rate you use for planning. The calculator doesn’t convert currencies, and exchange rates move, so it is worth rechecking a comparison before you make a final decision.
Annual salary for the local role
This is the gross yearly salary you would expect to offer someone doing the same job locally. The most reliable source is your own data: what you pay people in similar roles today, or what you offered the last time you hired for this role. If you don’t have that, compare several current job adverts for the same title and seniority in your city, and look at published salary surveys from recruiters or official statistics in your country. Use a mid-point rather than the top or bottom of a range.
Benefits and overhead
A local employee usually costs more than their salary. Add up what you spend per employee on employer taxes and contributions, health and retirement benefits, paid leave cover, office space, hardware, software licences and training. Divide that by the salary to get a percentage. Your finance team or accountant can usually give you this figure quickly. Employment costs and rules differ by country, so confirm anything you are unsure about with a qualified adviser.
One-time recruiting cost for the local hire
Think about what it costs you to fill a local role: job board listings, a recruiter’s fee if you use one, and the time your team spends reviewing applications and interviewing. If you use an external recruiter, their fee is usually set out in their terms. If you hire in-house, estimate the hours involved and multiply by a sensible hourly cost for the people doing the work.
Monthly pay for the remote professional
This is the amount you plan to pay your remote hire each month. It depends on the role, seniority, specialisation and the hours you need covered. A good way to estimate it is to look at the pay expectations candidates state for similar roles, and to decide which tools or allowances you will cover on top. If you aren’t sure, use a cautious, higher figure; during a search with GV Staffing, we share the pay expectations candidates mention so your offer can be realistic. Our hiring inquiry form is the place to tell us your range.
One-time placement fee
Enter the placement fee quoted to you for this role. With GV Staffing, the fee is agreed on your role definition call and written into your recruitment agreement, together with when it becomes payable. If you don’t have a quote yet, leave it empty: the calculator will show it as zero and remind you that it is missing. Read how our placement fee works for what it covers.
How to Read Your Remote Staffing Cost Results
The first-year figure includes the one-time costs: the local recruiting cost on one side, and the placement fee on the other. The each later year figure leaves those out, so it shows the running cost of each option once the hire is made.
Cost is only part of the decision. Before you choose, consider how much overlap you need with your team, how you will manage and onboard a remote professional, and what your contract and data-security arrangements will be. Our remote hiring checklist covers those steps, and how it works explains what happens once you decide to hire with us.
FAQ
Cost Calculator FAQs
Is the information I enter stored anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. The figures you type are not sent to GV Staffing or saved on our servers, and they disappear when you close or reload the page.
Why doesn’t the calculator include typical salaries?
Because pay varies widely by role, seniority, specialisation and hours, and any default figure would be misleading for many roles. Using your own figures keeps the comparison honest and relevant to the hire you are actually planning.
Does the result include taxes and compliance costs?
Only if you include them in the benefits and overhead percentage. The calculator doesn’t know the employment or tax rules that apply to you, so confirm those costs with a qualified adviser before relying on the comparison.
Where do I get a placement fee figure?
From your recruitment partner. With GV Staffing, the placement fee is agreed for your specific role on the role definition call and written into your recruitment agreement. You can book a call to discuss it.
Turn Your Estimate Into a Plan
Know roughly what you can offer? Tell us about the role, and we’ll explain how the search and the one-time placement fee would work for your hire.