I’ve heard this more times than I can count:
“We’re saving money with that role open.”
I get why it feels that way. The salary line isn’t being spent. But in supply chain, logistics, and transportation, an empty seat doesn’t mean the work disappears. It just means the cost shows up somewhere else… usually in ways that don’t hit one neat budget code.
And here’s the part that matters: the solution to vacancy isn’t panicking and hiring the wrong person. Because the cost of a bad hire can be even worse.
So yes, there's a cost on both sides. The goal is simple (even if it’s not easy): hire quickly and well.
The daily bleed: what an open seat costs right now
A practical way to estimate Cost of Vacancy (COV) is to tie the role to value creation. Not just tasks.
Example: Director of Logistics, $150,000 salary
- Use a conservative “impact multiplier” of 3x for leadership roles (they influence service, margin, execution)
- Value influence: $375,000/year
- ~220 working days/year
- $375,000 ÷ 220 ≈ $1,704 per day
That’s not a “soft cost.” That’s missed operational leverage. Every day.
If you want a quick way to run the math without building a spreadsheet, use our Vacancy Cost Calculator.
Vacancy doesn’t stay contained
When a role stays open, the team doesn’t sit around waiting. Coverage gets patched together. Good people stretch. Decisions slow down. Fires get louder.
And then something sneaky happens: the vacancy starts creating more risk. Burnout rises. Frustration spreads. Retention starts to wobble. One open seat can turn into two if you let it linger.
“I just need a body for the seat.” Careful.
This is where leaders get trapped.
They feel the pain of vacancy and assume the fix is speed at all costs.
But rushing a hire to stop the bleeding can create a different kind of leak. One that’s harder to spot until it’s already expensive: lost time, rework, service misses, culture drag, and then… you’re rehiring again.
We’ve written about this directly in our blog on the Cost of a Bad Hire. If you’ve ever had to unwind a wrong hire in a leadership or customer-facing operations role, you already know: it’s not just the salary. It’s the disruption.
The real move: stop the bleeding without lowering the bar
Here’s what “quickly and well” looks like in the real world:
- Put a Cost of Vacancy number on every open req (daily + 30/60/90-day cost).
- Use the Vacancy Cost Calculator to align the team.
- Set an internal hiring internal plan for critical roles (interview windows, feedback deadlines, decision cadence).
- Pre-align on outcomes (what this person must improve in 90–180 days).
- Pull in specialists when it’s business-critical. If you don’t hire supply chain/logistics talent every day, partner with people who do and who can move fast without guessing.
That’s where a specialized recruiting partner like CS Recruiting earns its keep. Not by flooding you with resumes. By helping you get to the right hire faster, with less risk.
Because the truth is: vacancy is expensive. A bad hire is expensive. The win is building a process that respects both.