New Hire Ramp-Up Cost Calculator NZ 2026/27
A new employee costs full salary from their first day and produces full output a great deal later, and the gap between those two facts is one of the least examined costs in a small business. This page prices it. You describe the productivity curve with three points, being what proportion of full output the person delivers in week one, at the midpoint of the ramp and at full competence, and the calculator interpolates between them rather than assuming steady improvement, because real ramp-ups start slowly and then accelerate. Lost output is then valued against either the revenue the role would generate at full speed or against the employee's own cost, depending on whether the role is billable, and that choice changes the answer by more than double. On top of the lost output sit the two costs of teaching someone: the trainer or supervisor hours, which are real because that person is not doing their own work, and any course fees or licences. The most useful single output is the week at which cumulative value finally overtakes cumulative cost, because it is nearly always later than owners assume and it explains why a hire who leaves at five months has cost far more than the salary they were paid.
Productivity curve is piecewise linear through three points: week 1, the midpoint week, and the final week of the ramp. The midpoint is the ramp length plus one, halved and rounded. Interpolation runs separately over each half, which is what lets the curve be slow then steep.
Weekly value at full productivity is the revenue the role generates in billable mode, or the employee's own weekly cost in non-billable mode. Non-billable is the conservative reading: it says a fully productive internal employee is worth at least what they cost.
Lost output = the sum across every ramp week of weekly value × (1 − that week's productivity).
Total ramp-up cost = lost output + trainer hours × trainer rate + course fees. Salary is deliberately excluded, since it is the ongoing cost of the role rather than a cost of ramping.
Net positive week accumulates cost as (trainer + fees, charged up front) plus weekly cost each week, against cumulative value produced, and reports the first week cumulative value exceeds cumulative cost. Weeks after the ramp run at full productivity.
Shortened ramp recalculates lost output over a shorter period with the same three productivity points, so the curve steepens. It assumes the same end competence is genuinely reached sooner.
Not employment advice. Last verified: .
What the ramp costs
| Annual salary | $76,000.00 |
| Plus employer on-costs at 8.1% | $6,156.00 |
| Full employment cost | $82,156.00 |
| Weekly cost to the business | $1,579.92 |
| Lost output over 12 weeks | $16,000.00 |
| Trainer time, 34 hours at $58.00 | $1,972.00 |
| Course fees and licences | $2,400.00 |
| Total ramp-up cost | $20,372.00 |
Salary is excluded from the ramp cost because it is the ongoing cost of the role. It is paid in full throughout regardless of output, which is exactly why the lost output line exists.
Week by week, until they pay for themselves
| Week | Productivity | Value that week | Cumulative cost | Cumulative value | Net |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20.0% | $640.00 | $5,951.92 | $640.00 | -$5,311.92 |
| 2 | 26.7% | $853.33 | $7,531.85 | $1,493.33 | -$6,038.51 |
| 3 | 33.3% | $1,066.67 | $9,111.77 | $2,560.00 | -$6,551.77 |
| 4 | 40.0% | $1,280.00 | $10,691.69 | $3,840.00 | -$6,851.69 |
| 5 | 46.7% | $1,493.33 | $12,271.62 | $5,333.33 | -$6,938.28 |
| 6 | 53.3% | $1,706.67 | $13,851.54 | $7,040.00 | -$6,811.54 |
| 7 | 60.0% | $1,920.00 | $15,431.46 | $8,960.00 | -$6,471.46 |
| 8 | 68.0% | $2,176.00 | $17,011.38 | $11,136.00 | -$5,875.38 |
| 9 | 76.0% | $2,432.00 | $18,591.31 | $13,568.00 | -$5,023.31 |
| 10 | 84.0% | $2,688.00 | $20,171.23 | $16,256.00 | -$3,915.23 |
| 11 | 92.0% | $2,944.00 | $21,751.15 | $19,200.00 | -$2,551.15 |
| 12 | 100.0% | $3,200.00 | $23,331.08 | $22,400.00 | -$931.08 |
| 13 | 100.0% | $3,200.00 | $24,911.00 | $25,600.00 | $689.00 | -$6,551.77 |
| 4 | 40.0% | 0,691.69 | $3,840.00 | -$6,851.69 | |
| 5 | 46.7% | 2,271.62 | $5,333.33 | -$6,938.28 | |
| 6 | 53.3% | 3,851.54 | $7,040.00 | -$6,811.54 | |
| 7 | 60.0% | 5,431.46 | $8,960.00 | -$6,471.46 | |
| 8 | 68.0% | 7,011.38 | 1,136.00 | -$5,875.38 | |
| 9 | 76.0% | 8,591.31 | 3,568.00 | -$5,023.31 | |
| 10 | 84.0% | 0,171.23 | 6,256.00 | -$3,915.23 | |
| 11 | 92.0% | 1,751.15 | 9,200.00 | - | ,551.15|
| 12 | 100.0% | $3,200.00 | 3,331.08 | 2,400.00 | -$931.08 |
| 13 | 100.0% | $3,200.00 | 4,911.00 | 5,600.00 | $689.00 |
Cumulative cost includes the trainer time and course fees up front, plus the full weekly employment cost every week.
What a faster ramp is worth
| Lost output over 12 weeks | $16,000.00 |
| Lost output over 10 weeks | $13,440.00 |
| Saved by shortening 2 weeks | $2,560.00 |
| Lost output over 8 weeks | $10,880.00 |
| Saved by shortening 4 weeks | $5,120.00 |
Better onboarding costs hours once and applies to every subsequent hire. Weigh it against these figures rather than against nothing.
Full Pay From Day One, Full Output Much Later
Every business knows a new person takes time to get going. Very few put a number on it, and the number is larger than the impression.
On the worked example the ramp costs $20,372.00. That is more than three months of the employee's own cost, and it is incurred every single time the role is filled. A business replacing that position twice in two years has spent over $40,000 on ramp alone, entirely separately from recruitment.
Worked Example: Twelve Weeks To Full Speed
A billable hire on $76,000.00, with employer on-costs of 8.1%, costs $82,156.00 a year or $1,579.92 a week. At full speed they generate $3,200.00 a week.
Productivity runs 20% in week one, 60% at the midpoint and 100% by week twelve. Summing the shortfall across those twelve weeks gives $16,000.00 of lost output.
Add 34 hours of trainer time at $58.00, which is $1,972.00, and $2,400.00 of course fees. Total ramp-up cost $20,372.00.
They Turn Net Positive In Week 13
The week-by-week table is the part worth reading closely. Cumulative cost starts at $5,951.92 in week one, because the trainer time and fees are incurred up front alongside a full week's employment cost. Cumulative value starts at $640.00.
The gap widens until week five, where it peaks at $6,938.28, then narrows as productivity climbs. Cumulative value finally overtakes cumulative cost in week 13, one week after the ramp period ends.
That single figure reframes several decisions. A hire who leaves at month four has never once contributed more than they consumed. Judging someone's value at eight weeks is judging them at 68% productivity in the middle of an investment period. And the case for keeping a competent person who is merely unexciting is stronger than it looks, because the replacement restarts this entire curve from zero.
Billable Or Internal Changes The Answer By Half
Mode matters more than any other input on this page.
In billable mode, lost output is measured against the $3,200.00 a week the role would generate, giving $16,000.00. In internal mode it is measured against the employee's own weekly cost of $1,579.92, giving around $7,900.00 for the same twelve weeks.
Neither is wrong. They answer different questions. For a chargeable role, the business genuinely forgoes revenue it could have billed, so the revenue measure is correct. For an internal role there is no forgone invoice, and the conservative statement is that a fully productive employee is worth at least what they cost.
The error to avoid is using the internal measure for a billable role, which understates the cost of slow onboarding by more than half in exactly the businesses where speed matters most. Our Utilisation Rate Calculator covers the billable side in more depth.
Shortening The Ramp Is Cheap And Repeatable
Two weeks off the ramp saves $2,560.00. Four weeks saves $5,120.00.
What buys that is unglamorous and mostly one-off. A written first-month plan so the person knows what they should be able to do by when. Documented process, so the same explanation is not given verbally to every new starter. A designated person to ask, which prevents the pattern of waiting until the manager is free. Recorded walkthroughs of the systems they will use daily.
Each of those costs hours once and then applies to every subsequent hire. On a business hiring five times a year, four weeks off the ramp is worth over $25,000 annually, which comfortably funds doing the onboarding properly.
This Is The Hidden Half Of Turnover Cost
Ramp-up appears inside turnover cost, and it is the component most often omitted because nothing invoices for it.
A business losing five people a year incurs this $20,372.00 five times, which is over $100,000 of cost that appears nowhere in the accounts as a line item. Our Employee Turnover Cost Calculator combines it with recruitment, lost knowledge and leave payouts to give the full annual figure, and our Cost of a Bad Hire Calculator shows what happens when the hire does not survive the ramp at all.
Related NZ Employment Cost Calculators
- True Cost of Employee Calculator: the full annual cost of employing someone.
- Cost Per Hire Calculator: what it costs to fill the role in the first place.
- Employee Turnover Cost Calculator: ramp-up as part of the annual turnover bill.
- Utilisation Rate Calculator: billable capacity once they are up to speed.
- Cost of a Bad Hire Calculator: when they leave before reaching week 13.
- Can I Afford to Hire?: the background to this calculation.
- Should I Delegate or Do It Myself?: the background to this calculation.
Related calculators
- Newton's Method Calculator: Root Finding Iterations.
- Newton’s Second Law Calculator: f = ma, solve for any variable.
- Nm to ft-lbs Converter: Newton Metres to Foot-Pounds.
- Ohm's Law Calculator: voltage, Current, Resistance.
How to calculate new hire ramp-up cost
- Enter the full employment cost. Annual salary plus employer KiwiSaver contributions, ACC levies and ESCT. The business pays all of it from week one regardless of output.
- Choose billable or non-billable. For a billable or revenue-generating role, lost output is measured against the revenue they would produce at full speed. For an internal role it is measured against their own cost, which is the conservative approach.
- Set the productivity curve. Three points: what percentage of full output they deliver in week one, at the midpoint of the ramp, and at the end. The calculator interpolates between them, which handles the usual pattern of slow start and fast finish.
- Add the cost of teaching them. Trainer or supervisor hours at their hourly cost, plus any course fees or licences. Supervisor time is a genuine cost because that person is not doing their own work.
- Read the week they turn net positive. The calculator accumulates cost and value week by week and reports when value overtakes cost. That week is usually considerably later than owners expect, and it is the honest answer to when a hire starts paying for itself.
- Test what a shorter ramp is worth. Compare against a ramp two and four weeks shorter. The saving is what better onboarding, documentation or structured training is worth spending on.