When founders compare the cost of a local hire to a remote one, they almost always compare base salary to base salary. That's the wrong number. Salary is maybe 60–70% of what an employee actually costs you.
The real math on a $60k hire
Start with $60,000 base. Add 7.65% for FICA ($4,590). Add roughly 8% for benefits — health insurance, dental, 401(k) match — at the lower end ($4,800). Add PTO and holidays, which is roughly 10% of working time you're paying for but not getting work from ($6,000). Add unemployment insurance, workers' comp, and payroll processing ($1,500). Add equipment — laptop, monitor, chair, software seats — averaged across a 3-year tenure ($2,500/year). Add recruitment cost amortized over expected tenure ($3,000–8,000).
You're now at $82,000–87,000 for a $60,000 employee. That's before you factor in management overhead, office space (if applicable), or the productivity dip during their first 90 days.
The hidden cost most people miss
Time-to-hire. The average professional role in the US takes 42 days to fill. That's six weeks where the work either isn't getting done, or is getting done by someone else who's now overstretched. The cost of that delay is rarely captured on a spreadsheet, but it's almost always larger than the salary delta.
What changes with the HelpLyncs model
All-inclusive monthly rates. No payroll taxes, no benefits overhead, no recruitment costs. Placement in 2–5 days, not 2–5 weeks. The math just works differently — and once you've seen it, going back to the old model is hard to justify.
