The Average Cost of Onboarding a New Employee — But Lower It
Most teams underestimate onboarding costs. Find out what you’re really spending and how to make smarter, faster hires without breaking the bank.
Hiring someone new? We love that for you! But if you think the expenses stop at a salary offer... we need to talk.
Onboarding is one of the sneakiest budget drains in the hiring process. From laptops and training to admin tasks and lost productivity, every new hire comes with hidden costs that stack up fast.
So let’s pull back the curtain on what you’re actually spending when you add someone to the team — and how Walter can help you cut those costs without cutting corners.
💸 What New Hires Really Cost You
Hiring an employee is an investment, not just an expense. And like any investment, it comes with upfront costs.
The total cost to onboard a new team member can vary wildly depending on the role, industry, and how streamlined (or chaotic 😅) your hiring process is.
Generally, these expenses fall into two categories:[*]
- Hard Costs (30–40%): The cold, hard cash you spend on recruiting fees, onboarding software, equipment, and training programs.
- Soft Costs (~60% of the total cost): Lost productivity, time spent on training, and internal resources like managers being pulled away from their actual jobs. Yes, time is money!
📊 According to BambooHR, hard costs alone can run between $7,500 and $28,000.[*] However, some experts say the total cost to hire and onboard can reach up to 4x the employee’s salary.[*]
So if you’re hiring for a $50,000 role, you’re potentially looking at a $200,000 investment to get that person fully ramped up.
Shocked? 🤯 Most startup founders and small biz owners are. So let’s dig into where that money goes and what you can do to save some cash.
🧾 The Average Cost of Onboarding a New Employee: Line by Line
Here’s every sneaky little line item that’s quietly draining your hiring budget:
🧲 Recruitment
The bills pile up before your new hire even steps into your Slack workspace.
Cost per hire (CPH) includes everything it takes to land the right person — job board fees, background checks, recruiter costs, pre-employment testing, remote staffing agency fees, and hours spent sifting through resumes and hosting interviews.
Even the new hire welcome gift you send will set you back $20 to $100.[*]
If you’re doing this internally, expect your team to spend weeks chasing down candidates. Or pay big bucks for a traditional agency. Either way: not cheap.
💰 Average cost: $4,700 per hire.[*]
👀 Psst! This part doesn’t have to cost a small fortune. Walter helps you hire better and spend less. Let’s talk savings!
📝 Administrative & HR Costs
Onboarding paperwork eats up 10 hours of HR time per hire.[*]
Think contracts, tax forms, compliance docs, payroll setup, and chasing down signatures. Then there's benefits enrollment, handbook acknowledgments, and all those “just one more form” moments.
It’s a whole thing.
💰 Average cost: $400 per hire.[*]
👉 Walter Tip: Automate the admin. An online onboarding portal can streamline these tasks, improve accuracy, and lower your cost per hire. It also frees up your HR team to focus on people, not paperwork.
💻 Tech, Equipment, and Workspace
Whether you’re hiring in-office or remote, your team needs the right tools to get the job done. That might mean company-issued devices or a home office stipend, depending on your policy.
Laptops, monitors, software licenses, email accounts, and other essentials aren’t cheap. But remote hiring in Latin America or hiring remote talent in the Philippines can slash this line item by thousands.
When you’re not expanding your office footprint or outfitting full cubicle setups, you keep more of your budget in the black.
💰 Average cost: Between $500 and $3,000 per employee.[*][*]
📚 Training and Orientation
From Day 1 orientations to department-specific onboarding, you’re investing serious time and resources to get your new hire up to speed — and if your onboarding process is clunky or outdated, expect costs to spike and productivity to tank.
Traditional training methods? You’ll need to budget for in-person workshops, travel, printed manuals, and instructors on the clock.
Remote onboarding for offshore employees is much more efficient (and wallet-friendly), thanks to online platforms and async learning and collaboration tools.
💰 Average cost: Could be as high as $6,000 per employee.
Number crunchers estimate employers spend about 60 hours per year on training at an average of $100 per hour.[*] Ouch.
⏳ Time-To-Productivity
Time-to-productivity measures how long it takes before your new hire is actually doing the job you hired them for, at full capacity.
Research suggests new hires reach this benchmark in:[*]
- 1–3 months for entry-level roles
- 3–6 months for mid-level positions (thanks to more complex systems and responsibilities)
- 6–12 months for senior or technical roles, especially those with steep learning curves or intricate workflows
Translation? You could be paying someone for weeks or even months before they’re delivering full value.
Every day they’re not at 100%, your ROI takes a hit. So the faster your onboarding, the faster your payoff.
💰 Average cost: About 3–6 months of the new hire’s salary.
🔁 Potential for Turnover
Onboarding sets the tone for long-term greatness. And the stats don’t lie:
✨ A solid onboarding experience makes new hires 18x more likely to feel committed to their role and boosts retention by up to 82%.[*][*]
🙅 A bad one? Doubles the chance they’ll peace out and start job hunting again soon.[*]
If a new hire bounces, you’re not just out a few thousand bucks. You’re eating the full cost of recruiting, training, lost productivity, and starting the whole cycle over again.
💰 Average cost: Replacing an employee can cost anywhere from 50% to 200% of their annual salary, depending on the role.[*]
Getting it right the first time means no do-overs, no wasted spend, and no regrets.
👋 Meet Walter: We Do Cost-Effective Remote Hiring Right
Whether you’re searching for the best remote staffing agency in the USA or looking to scale globally, you’ve officially found your people.
Walter is the smarter way to build your dream team — and make onboarding smoother — without blowing your budget.
Here’s why we’re not like other staffing agencies for remote work:
- Top Talent You Can Actually Afford. Hiring remote professionals from Latin America and the Philippines can save you up to 80% — without sacrificing skill, experience, or English fluency. Fewer training gaps = faster ramp-up.
- Transparent Pricing, Zero Surprises. Bloated retainers? Subscription fees? Hidden charges? Nah. Just one fair placement fee and nothing sneaky.
- Risk-Free, 12-Month Guarantee. We check in monthly for the first 6 months. Didn’t get the right fit? We’ll replace them. No drama, no extra charge.
Sure, other remote staffing agencies might get someone in the door. But we make sure they don’t run back out of it three months later.
Walter helps you hire people who stay, thrive, and actually make those onboarding expenses worth it. That’s just how we do remote recruitment for businesses. 💁♀️
🎉 The Remote Work Staffing Agency That Actually Gets It
The average cost of onboarding a new employee isn’t pocket change. But with the right partner, you can skip the sticker shock and still build a team that delivers.
Walter helps businesses like yours hire from LATAM and the Philippines with confidence, speed, and serious cost savings.
So if you’re tired of sky-high fees and revolving-door candidates, it’s time to level up with a partner who gets you.
👉 You’re one click away from better hiring and onboarding experiences. Let’s do this!
