What is the average cost to hire a graduate?

According to 2022 ISE Student Recruitment Survey, the average cost per hire for a graduate was £4,768 (£5,325 in 2021).

Here's the breakdown by sector for average cost per hire. (2021 in brackets);

- Finance and Professional Services £2,779 (£2,430)
- Built Environment £1,130 (£1,499)
- Health and Pharmaceuticals £2,733 (£1,862)
- Energy, Engineering and Industry £1,441 (£1,572)
- Retail, FMCG & Tourism £4,917 (£2,719)
- Digital and IT £1,559 (£3,009)
- Legal £10,244 (£14,589)
- Charity and Public Sector £3,086 (£2,786)

Here's the breakdown by company employee size for average cost per hire. (2021 in brackets);

51-250 employees £3,602 (£1,847)
251-1,000 employees £7,842 (£3,514)
1,000-10,000 employees £3,149 (£1,622)
10,000+ employees £2,276

Here's the breakdown by number of graduates recruited for average cost per hire for 2022 where data was available;

0-50 graduates £11,924
50-500 graduates £3,002
1000+ graduates £1,916

Here's the breakdown by number of graduates recruited for average cost per hire for 2021.(2020 in brackets);

1-15 graduates £3,470 (£5,263)
16-25 graduates £4,541 (£5,092)
26-50 graduates £1,748 (£5,124)
51-100 graduates £1,993 (£3,351)
101-250 graduates £1,944 (£2,276)
251 or more graduates £1,068 (£1,805)

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.

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