Compare the cost of another hire with making your current person more productive.
A desk hire costs the salary plus at least 30% for payroll taxes and benefits every year, plus recruiting and the months before they work at full speed. Making the person you have 2 to 5 times as productive with AI is a one-time project. Put your numbers in to see the gap.
Enter the role’s numbers to compare the two.
Ramp-up counts new hires at half productivity for the months entered. The Role Remake fee is fixed per role, and Josh gives it to you on the Planning Call.
Owners ask these three questions about AI versus hiring.
How much does an employee really cost on top of salary?
Plan on at least 1.3 times the salary once payroll taxes, health insurance, retirement and paid time off are added. Bureau of Labor Statistics data show wages and salaries make up 70% of what private employers spend on compensation, which puts the full cost near 1.4 times salary. This calculator starts at 1.3, and you can change it.
What does it cost to recruit and ramp up a new hire?
Recruiting costs thousands of dollars per hire in job ads, interview time and fees, and more with an agency. A new person then needs months to reach full speed. The calculator counts ramp-up as half their cost for the months you enter.
When is hiring the better choice?
When the work is mostly in-person, physical, or relationship work that software can’t carry, or when the person you have is already at capacity on judgment calls. For desk roles that live in email, spreadsheets and accounting software, raising one person’s output costs far less.
The worked example applies this math to one accounts payable role.
It breaks the specialist's week into tasks, shows which of the six changes apply to each and lands at 3.4× the work.
The call takes 20 minutes, and you leave with a plan for the role whether you hire us or not.