By Michelle Fergusson, Associate Director
When someone leaves, the instinct is to start recruiting. But recruitment takes time, 8-16 weeks on average for a permanent hire. In the meantime, the role sits empty.
Most businesses accept this as a necessary pause. What they often underestimate is what that pause is actually costing them.
The hidden costs of an unfilled role go far beyond lost productivity. They ripple through your team, your customers, and your bottom line.
Let's start with the maths.
If a role has a salary of £40,000, that's roughly £155 per working day. An empty seat for 10 weeks costs approximately £7,750 in lost output, assuming the work simply doesn't get done.
But work rarely just disappears. It gets redistributed. Which leads to the next cost.
When someone leaves, the rest of the team absorbs their workload. At first, this feels manageable. People step up. They cover.
But weeks turn into months. The extra load becomes the norm. And cracks start to appear:
Losing another team member because you didn't fill the first gap quickly enough? That's a compounding cost.
Stretched teams cut corners. Not because they're careless, but because there's simply too much to do.
Every error has a cost, whether it's rework, refunds, complaints, or reputational damage. When your team is running at 120%, mistakes are inevitable.
An unfilled role doesn't just affect what's being done. It affects what's not being done.
Your competitors aren't pausing. While you're stretched, they're moving forward.
The longer a role stays empty, the more pressure builds to fill it. And pressure leads to compromise.
Hiring "good enough" instead of "right" is expensive. A bad permanent hire means:
One study by the Recruitment & Employment Confederation found that a bad hire at mid-manager level can cost a business over £130,000.
Here's the thing: you don't have to choose between an empty seat and a rushed hire.
Interim and temporary cover bridges the gap. It keeps the work moving while you take the time to recruit the right permanent candidate.
With Elevation, you can have a temp or interim professional in place within 24-48 hours. Pre-screened, experienced, and ready to hit the ground running.
And because we run our own payroll system, there's no onboarding admin for you. We handle contracts, compliance, and payments.
Yes, interim cover has a cost. But compare it to:
Interim cover isn't an expense - it's risk mitigation.
An unfilled role is never free. The costs are real, they're just hidden in spreadsheets you're not looking at and conversations you're not hearing.
If you're recruiting for a permanent role, don't let the seat sit empty while you search. Bring in interim cover and protect your team, your customers, and your business.
Got a gap that's costing you? Let's talk about interim cover.
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