A bad hire typically costs 30% to 150% of their annual salary when you include wasted salary, disrupted productivity, management time, re-recruiting, and onboarding. For a $100,000 senior role, total cost can exceed $150,000.
Employee turnover costs 50% to 200% of annual salary depending on role level. Technical roles average 150%, sales roles 125%, and administrative roles 50%. A $100,000 engineer who leaves costs roughly $150,000 to replace.
Fractional HR typically pays for itself by preventing one bad hire or compliance issue. At $1,199 per month, it provides senior HR oversight and risk prevention at a fraction of the cost of most hiring or compliance errors.
Most startups need structured HR support between 10 and 30 employees. Founders typically handle HR informally until the team hits 15-20 people, at which point compliance gaps, hiring volume, and people issues demand professional support.