A vacancy that stays open looks like it saves money: no salary goes out. In practice you pay elsewhere. Read which costs an open role brings to a hotel, how to estimate them per week and what to do with the result.
10 October 2026
Recruitment costs show up on an invoice: a job ad, an agency, a temp. The cost of a role nobody fills shows up nowhere. It is spread across overtime, missed sales, a lower guest rating and a team that gets tired. That makes waiting look cheaper than it is, and the decision to recruit faster or bring in temporary cover gets postponed too long.
• Overtime and extra shifts: colleagues covering the work, at a higher rate or at the expense of their days off.
• Temporary and stand-in staff: agency or on-call workers used to plug gaps, often more expensive per hour than a permanent employee.
• Lost revenue: rooms you cannot sell because housekeeping cannot turn them in time, a restaurant taking fewer covers, an event you turn down.
• Quality and guest experience: longer waits at reception, less attention at the table, weaker reviews that later affect rate and occupancy.
• Team turnover: people who carry double work for too long start looking themselves. A second vacancy is the most expensive item of all.
You do not need a perfect calculation. A reasonable weekly estimate is enough to make a decision.
• Step 1: add up the extra hours the team worked this week because of the open role, and multiply by the hourly wage including premiums.
• Step 2: add the cost of stand-ins or agency staff you used for this role.
• Step 3: estimate what you did not sell: unsold rooms, declined reservations or events. Ask revenue or the department heads for a figure.
• Step 4: subtract the salary you did not pay. What remains is what the open role costs you per week.
• Step 5: also note the soft signals: complaints, reviews, sick days and people telling you it is getting heavy.
Put the weekly figure next to the cost of filling the role faster: a better job ad, an extra channel, a referral bonus, placement or temporary cover. If one week open costs more than a solution that fills the role two or three weeks sooner, the choice is quickly made.
It also helps in the conversation with the owner or management. A concrete amount per week is more convincing than saying the team is struggling.
• Seeing only the saved salary: it is the one item that looks favourable, which is exactly why it misleads.
• Setting no end date: without agreeing how long you will try on your own, a vacancy stays open for months.
• Treating every role the same: an open spot in housekeeping or on night reception hits revenue directly; a support role sometimes less so. Rank by impact.
• Leaving the team out: those covering the work want to know until when and what is being done about it.
• Do you know which roles are open right now and since when?
• Do you have a rough weekly cost estimate per role?
• Are overtime and temporary cover for that role visible separately?
• Is there a date on which you escalate to another channel or a partner?
• Does the team know how long the situation will last?
• Are you also watching turnover and sickness in the department where the role is open?
AXXAZ Hospitality places reliable hospitality professionals with hotels across Europe. When a role has been open too long, we can help with placement or temporary cover so your team gets some breathing room. With a clear staffing brief (period, hours, shifts, languages and start date) we can move quickly. Get in touch if you want to fill an open role faster.
An open role costs money through overtime, temporary cover, lost revenue, quality and turnover; estimate it roughly per week, set it against the cost of filling the role faster and agree a date on which you escalate.