All resourcesCost of a bad hire

What one wrong hire really costs — and what it would have cost to catch.

Built for the conversation with your CFO. Adjust the assumptions to your role and hiring volume, and see the dollar impact of a bad hire against the cost of a SafestHires pre-employment screening report.

Your assumptions

Annual salary$65,000

Months to detect the bad hire6 mo

Recruiting time6 wks

Onboarding / ramp weeks8 wks

Productivity loss during tenure40%

Severance paid2 wks

Team disruption / rework / client impact$10,000

Your hiring volume

Hires per year50

Bad hires avoidable via screening4%

Screening cost per hire$65

Cost of one bad hire

$66,500

Recruiting: $13,000
Onboarding salary: $10,000
Manager + peer training time: $5,000
Lost productivity: $13,000
Severance: $2,500
Team disruption / rework: $10,000
Re-recruit replacement: $13,000

Annual screening ROI

Avoidable bad hires / year: 2.0
Annual bad-hire cost avoided: $133,000
Annual screening investment: $3,250
Net annual savings: $129,750
ROI: 3992%

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Model assumptions blend SHRM, DOL, and CAP research on hiring costs with SafestHires client data. Adjust every input to your role and industry — this is a directional tool, not a warranty.