The short answer
An unfilled project leadership role may create extra contractor costs, paid overtime, postponed work and a lost contribution. Separate demonstrable additional expenditure from the value of internal capacity redirected elsewhere. Make assumptions visible and do not count the same impact twice. Lost revenue is not lost profit. Use your own scenario rather than a generic cost per vacancy day.
Bring one vacancy and your questions about costs. In 30 minutes, we discuss the approach, your recruitment fee and the costs and terms we agree in advance.
The mistake: an empty chair costs nothing
Not paying a salary feels like saving money. But a project manager's responsibilities do not disappear with the role. They get distributed across colleagues, postponed, or covered by a more expensive alternative. These are real costs, even if they do not appear as a single line in the budget. They become visible only when you deliberately add them up.
Fictional calculation: temporary cover
Fictional calculation: an organisation assumes €4,500 a month for additional external cover and €500 for paid overtime. Together these are €5,000 in assumed additional monthly expenditure. A senior colleague also spends twenty hours providing cover. At an assumed internal rate of €50 an hour, that represents €1,000 of capacity, not an automatic additional payment. These figures are assumptions, not market prices.
Separate expenditure, capacity and possible losses
Check that contractor costs and overtime are genuinely additional. Keep redirected internal hours separate and identify which other work is postponed. Investigate possible scheduling losses separately. Do not add them again if they are already included in the capacity estimate. Revenue is not profit: use a supported contribution or margin when valuing lost production.
Which hiring period belongs in your scenario?
Use your own expected period and an alternative scenario with a later start. Record which temporary costs continue and which stop when someone starts. We have not established a general average for project leadership vacancies here. A faster process has value only when quality, induction and handover also fit.
What this means for your recruitment decision
When you map the costs of an open vacancy honestly, the question changes. Not: 'what does an agency cost?' but: 'what does waiting longer cost?' Red Rocket combines campaign, AI recruiter, and organisational context to provide relevant role information and make answers visible. Assessment and follow-up remain with you. Book a conversation to discuss what this means for your role. For further context on the construction labour market, see UWV – Labour Market Information Construction.
Frequently asked questions
Can I include lost revenue in my calculation?
You can include it as context, but be careful. Revenue is not profit, and delay does not automatically mean loss. Use it as an indication, not as a hard figure in your business case.
What if colleagues simply absorb the work without extra cost?
Then the direct cost is lower, but the hidden costs remain: higher workload, risk of errors, less focus on their own responsibilities. These are harder to quantify but no less real.
Is it worth building this scenario before engaging an agency?
Yes. It helps you determine how urgent the vacancy really is and what recruitment budget is realistic. A no cure no pay arrangement from 11% of the annual salary is then easier to weigh against the cost of waiting longer.
