What is the average cost to hire a graduate?

According to the AGR, the average cost per hire for a graduate, excluding law firms, is estimated to be £3,383. This comprises of £1,722 on attraction & marketing and £1,661 on selection & assessment. In total, responding employers (208) spent an estimated £82 million on recruiting graduates this year. NB. This report does not include team salaries and graduate salaries. Different businesses also include different activities within their marketing and assessment budgets. Here's the breakdown by sector for average cost per hire;

- Accounting or Professional Services £2,863
- Banking of Financial Services £4,643
- Construction £1,296
- Energy, Water or Utility Company £5,229
- Engineering or Industrial £2,031
- FMCG £4,789
- IT & Telecommunications £2,160
- Law £6,711
- Public Sector £3,259
- Retail £2,577

Cost per hire shows economies of scale and decreases for larger intakes. Employers who recruit less than 15 graduates typically spend £5,263 per hire, while the largest intakes spend £1,805 per hire. Selection & assessment spend also appears to drop dramatically for intakes of more than 50 hires, while attraction & marketing spend appears to drop dramatically for intakes of more than 100 hires. Here's the breakdown by number of graduates recruited for average cost per hire;

1-15 graduates £5,263
16-25 graduates £5,092
26-50 graduates £5,124
51-100 graduates £3,351
101-250 graduates £2,276
251 or more graduates £1,805

“I hire people brighter than me and then I get out of their way.”
- Lee Iacocca, Ford