Cost of Vacancy Calculator (CoV)

A vacant desk doesn't cost anything because the company saves on the salary? This common misconception is one of the most expensive errors in modern business management. An unfilled position does not save money—it burns it. Every day a role remains vacant costs a company hard cash. The Cost of Vacancy (CoV) measures exactly this economic loss. Ignoring this metric not only risks unnoticed shrinking margins but also jeopardizes the stability and productivity of your entire team.

The true costs of a vacancy are made up of both direct and indirect factors. Direct costs primarily include the immediate loss of value creation. A sales representative who does not generate deals or a software developer who delays an important product release causes measurable revenue losses. However, the far more dangerous costs are often indirect. When a position remains vacant for months, the remaining team has to pick up the slack. The results are overtime, frustration, a drop in work quality, and, in the worst-case scenario, increased employee turnover because top performers capitulate under the continuous workload. Furthermore, employer branding suffers: a lengthy application process signals inertia and inefficiency to the market.

To calculate these costs, economists use a simple but effective formula, which is also the basis of this calculator: the average gross salary of the position is broken down to a daily rate, multiplied by a weighting factor (which reflects the strategic value of the position to the company), and then multiplied by the days of vacancy. The more specialized the professional or the higher the executive position, the higher this factor becomes, and the faster the daily losses skyrocket into the four- or five-figure range.

How can this financial damage be minimized? The answer lies not in lowering the requirements for new hires, but in resolving the administrative bottleneck in the selection process. In traditional recruiting, most time is not lost during the final decision, but during the tedious pre-screening and scheduling of initial introductory calls. Goaleos addresses exactly this point: through AI-supported, flexible-time audio interviews, applicants can introduce themselves directly via their smartphone, 24/7, without scheduling. The AI analyzes the conversations in real time and delivers a qualified shortlist of the best candidates. This drastically reduces the Time-to-Hire, brings the best talent to the workplace faster, and significantly lowers your vacancy costs before the unfilled desk damages your annual budget.