120 → 150 people
- Net change in headcount
- +30
- Expected leavers
- 20
- Hires needed
- 50
- Hires per month
- 4.2
15.0% a year on an average of 135 people
over 12 months
Hires needed50
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Headcount Planning Calculator
How many people do you need to hire to reach your target headcount after attrition?
Enter today's headcount, your target and expected attrition. You get growth hires, replacement hires, hires per month and — with your cost per hire — the hiring budget.
How the headcount plan is calculated
Expected leavers = (current + target headcount) ÷ 2 × yearly attrition % × months ÷ 12, rounded. Hires needed = target − current + expected leavers (never below zero). Hires per month = hires needed ÷ months. Budget = hires needed × your cost per hire.
- Growth hires
- New roles that take you from today's headcount to the target.
- Replacement hires
- Hires to replace people expected to leave during the period.
- Attrition rate
- The share of employees who leave in a year.
Headcount plan examples
Illustrative plans, worked out with the same formula the calculator uses.
| Plan | Headcount | Attrition | Leavers | Hires needed | Per month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growing 25% in a year | 120 → 150 | 15% | 20 | 50 | 4.2 |
| Holding flat | 300 → 300 | 12% | 36 | 36 | 3.0 |
| New branch in 6 months | 40 → 70 | 10% | 3 | 33 | 5.5 |
| Shrinking through attrition | 100 → 90 | 20% | 19 | 9 | 0.8 |
Illustrative figures only.
Before you commit to the plan
- Attrition is rarely even across the year — plan extra capacity after bonus season and summer.
- Internal moves leave a gap too; add them to replacement hires if you backfill them.
- In the UAE and Saudi Arabia, check whether new roles change your Emiratisation or Saudization targets.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate how many people to hire?
Hires needed = (target headcount − current headcount) + expected leavers in the period. Expected leavers = average headcount × your yearly attrition rate × (months ÷ 12). Growing from 120 to 150 people with 15% attrition over a year means 30 growth hires plus about 20 replacement hires — 50 in total.
Why use average headcount for attrition?
Because people leave throughout the year, not just from today's team. As you grow, more people are exposed to leaving. Averaging the start and target headcount is a simple, standard way to reflect that.
What attrition rate should I use?
Your own turnover rate from last year — work it out with our employee turnover calculator. If the period you're planning is unusual (a new site, a restructure), adjust it and say so in your plan.
How do I turn the plan into a budget?
Enter your cost per hire and the calculator multiplies it by the hires needed. If you don't know your cost per hire, calculate it first with the cost per hire calculator, from your last year's recruiting spend and hires.
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