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Recruiter Capacity Planner
See how many recruiters your hiring workload requires. Enter your open requisitions by complexity and your current team. The planner calculates the recruiters needed, identifies who is over or under capacity, and shows what moving to the recommended team would add or save each year.
Start by setting recruiter availability and the maximum number of requisitions one recruiter can manage in each category: high-volume, professional, or hard-to-fill. Enter your open requisitions, and the planner divides each category by its maximum, adjusts for availability, and calculates the recruiters needed, the recommended whole-number team, utilization, and the staffing gap. The Recruiter Roster tab shows each recruiter's weighted workload and whether they are over, at, or under capacity. The Cost tab compares your current team with the recommended size, including agency fees for overflow. A one-page Summary brings together staffing needs, the gap, and costs for a board discussion. The Benchmark tab lists planning ranges for requisition loads by role complexity, with SHRM 2025 and Gem 2025 figures for comparison. The workbook opens with a worked example so you can follow the calculations before entering your figures.
An executive search takes a different amount of work than a high-volume hourly opening. This planner accounts for that difference instead of treating every requisition equally. The default maximums are 25 high-volume, 15 professional, and 5 hard-to-fill requisitions per recruiter, all within planning ranges. Four senior searches use most of a recruiter's capacity, while four hourly requisitions use much less. The planner also accounts for availability. Recruiters spend roughly 80% to 90% of their time on requisitions after intake meetings and administrative work, so the model adjusts the staffing requirement accordingly. Utilization over 100% is an early warning of longer time to fill and lost candidates, even before the pressure appears in headcount requests. Review the staffing gap alongside the cost of the recommended team size.
To compare the cost of an outside agency with your own recruiters, use the Agency vs Internal Recruiter ROI Calculator. For workforce headcount based on productive hours, see the FTE Headcount Planner.
What format is it, and can I edit it?
You receive one Excel workbook that also works in Google Sheets. The download is five files: the workbook, a Start Here, the one-page Quick Reference, the product license, and a short guide to using it in Google Sheets. Every input and formula is editable. Add recruiters to the roster by inserting rows, or duplicate the file to plan a second team. Your download link appears immediately after checkout, and the same link arrives in your email receipt.
What does the paid workbook do that a free calculator does not?
The Recruiter Roster shows each recruiter's weighted workload and flags who is over, at, or under capacity. The Cost tab compares your current team with the recommended size, supported by a board-ready summary and sourced Benchmark tab. Every formula is visible, so you can adjust the maximums to match your actual recruiting throughput and reuse the file as the pipeline changes. A quick browser estimate calculates overall capacity once; this workbook also shows named recruiters and team costs.
What counts as high-volume, professional, or hard-to-fill?
High-volume is hourly and entry roles with heavy applicant flow and lighter screening per opening. Professional is the mid-level mix of sourcing, screening, and hiring-manager coordination most corporate recruiters carry. Hard-to-fill is senior, niche, or executive work with heavy proactive sourcing and long pipelines. If a req sits between buckets, put it in the nearer one or adjust that bucket’s maximum.
What is the refund policy?
Digital products are covered by a 30-day money-back guarantee. To request a refund, email support@truestephr.com or reply to your receipt within 30 days of purchase. Questions? Email support@truestephr.com.
Use your team's actual recruiting throughput to set the capacity assumptions. The number of requisitions a recruiter can manage varies with role complexity, sourcing channels, your applicant tracking system, and recruiter experience. The results are planning estimates based on those inputs.
How the download works
Your files arrive as a single ZIP download, best opened on a computer. Save it, extract it (right-click and select Extract All on Windows, or double-click on a Mac), then open the Start Here file first. PDFs open in any reader, and editable files work in Microsoft Excel or free equivalents, including LibreOffice and Google Sheets. No other software is needed. Step-by-step help for every device is at truestephr.com/pages/download-help.
This planning and analysis model produces estimates based entirely on the inputs and assumptions you enter. Use those estimates to support decisions, rather than as accounting, tax, or legal conclusions. Check the assumptions against your own data. Have qualified counsel review decisions involving pay, headcount, or separation against applicable law before acting. General information, not legal, tax, or financial advice.
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