KEVOS® WORKOS · Business
Hire or Outsource
Should you hire or outsource this work?
Compares the first-year cost of employing someone with buying the same hours from a contractor.
Open the calculatorRuns in your browser. No account needed.
How this tool works
Inputs, units and where to find them
| Input | Unit | Typical source |
|---|---|---|
| Annual workload | hr | Annual hours of work needed |
| Annual salary | $ | Annual base salary for the role |
| Employee on-costs | % | Employment on-costs from payroll (superannuation, leave, payroll tax, insurance) |
| Hiring / setup cost | $ | Recruitment, onboarding and equipment cost |
| Contractor rate | $/hr | Contractor or agency hourly rate |
Method and formulas
- Employee cost = salary × (1 + on-cost) + hiring cost
- Outsource cost = hours × contractor rate
- Break-even hours = employee cost ÷ contractor rate
Limitations
- First-year view including hiring cost
- Does not check that one person can deliver the hours
Typical uses
- Resourcing a recurring workload
- Deciding whether to convert contractor work to a role
Who it is for
- Business owners
- Managers
- HR
What you get
- HIRE or OUTSOURCE
- Cost difference and break-even hours
Interpreting the result
- Re-run without the hiring cost for an ongoing comparison
- Weigh knowledge retention and flexibility as well as cost
References
- Australian Taxation Office guidance on distinguishing employees from contractors
WORKOS tools are screening and decision-support utilities. Verify important financial, engineering, safety, legal or operational decisions using appropriate professional standards and your organisation’s approved data.
