The Six IT Costs Every Business Should Plan for When Hiring

Growing your team should feel like good news. More employees usually mean more customers, more opportunities and a business moving in the right direction. But there is a recruitment cost that can easily be overlooked. IT.

 

Hiring someone does not simply mean finding them a desk and handing them a laptop. Every new employee can create additional costs across hardware, software, security, support and infrastructure. For growing businesses in Liverpool, these costs can quickly mount up if they are not considered before recruitment starts. The good news is that most of them are predictable. Here are five areas worth including in your plans before your next employee walks through the door.

 

1. Computers and Equipment

The most obvious expense is the equipment your new employee needs to do their job. Depending on their role, that could include:

• Laptop or desktop computer
• Monitors
• Docking station
• Keyboard and mouse
• Headset
• Mobile phone
• Additional specialist equipment

The requirements will vary considerably between roles. Someone primarily using emails, documents and web-based applications will have very different requirements from an architect, designer or engineer using demanding specialist software. Buying equipment that is unsuitable for the job can be a false economy.

 

If a new employee spends every day waiting for an underpowered computer, you've saved money on equipment at the expense of productivity.

 

A better approach is to create standard equipment packages for different roles. That way, when recruitment begins, you already know what each type of employee needs and can include those costs in your hiring plans.

 

2. Software and Licences

Software is where the smaller costs can quickly start adding up. A new employee might need access to email and productivity software, customer relationship management systems, accounting platforms, specialist applications, security tools and other cloud services. Individually, each subscription might seem relatively modest. Collectively, they can significantly increase the cost of adding another person to the business. It is also worth asking whether you are paying for licences that are no longer required. If someone leaves and their licences are not properly removed or reassigned, you could continue paying for software nobody is using. Before recruiting, create a list of the applications each role requires and understand the recurring cost associated with them. It turns software from an unexpected monthly increase into a predictable cost of recruitment.

 

3. Accounts, Access and Security

Getting someone working quickly matters. Getting them working securely matters just as much.

 

A new employee could require access to email, shared files, cloud applications, password management systems and internal business platforms. They may also need physical access to the workplace through keys, passes or electronic access systems.

 

The important thing is to provide people with the access they need without automatically giving them access to everything. A consistent onboarding process should cover areas such as:

 

Accounts

Create individual accounts for the applications and systems the employee needs. Avoid shared credentials and make sure appropriate security measures are enabled from the beginning.

 

Access

Make sure the employee receives the appropriate access to buildings, systems, files and applications based on their role.

 

Security

Cybersecurity awareness should start during onboarding, not several months afterwards. New employees should understand how to recognise suspicious emails, handle sensitive information, create secure passwords and report something that does not look right. Security should be part of joining the business, not an optional extra.

 

4. IT Setup and Support

There's another cost that businesses sometimes overlook.

 

 

Someone needs to configure the laptop. Someone needs to create the accounts. Someone needs to assign licences, configure access and make sure everything works. Someone also needs to help the employee when they inevitably have questions during their first few days.

 

If you employ internal IT staff, that work takes them away from other projects. If you use an outsourced IT provider, onboarding may form part of your agreement or create an additional charge depending on your contract. Either way, that time has value. This becomes particularly important when recruiting several people within a short period.

 

You don't want your new employee spending their first morning waiting for a laptop while somebody works out which accounts they need. Good onboarding should feel organised because the technical work has already happened behind the scenes.

 

5. Don't Forget About Growth Beyond the Individual Employee

One new person probably won't transform your IT requirements. But growth is rarely about one person. You recruit one employee this month, two more next quarter and another three later in the year. Before long, your business has grown considerably. That can start putting pressure on areas that were perfectly adequate when the business was smaller. You may need to reconsider:

• Internet connectivity
• Wi-Fi coverage
• Cloud storage
• Software licensing
• Cyber security
• Backup requirements
• Network equipment
• IT support capacity
• Office equipment and workspaces

Think about it in physical terms. You wouldn't keep adding employees indefinitely to an office without eventually asking whether you have enough desks, meeting rooms or parking spaces. Technology deserves the same consideration.

 

 

 

 

The Hidden Cost Is Failing to Plan

The biggest problem with IT costs and recruitment is not necessarily how much everything costs.

 

It's when you discover the cost.

 

Imagine offering someone a position and then discovering their specialist laptop has a significant lead time. Or recruiting several people before realising your software licences will cost considerably more than expected. Or having a new starter arrive on Monday morning while their accounts are still being created. These aren't really technology problems.

 

They're planning problems. And most can be avoided.

 

Your IT Provider Should Be Part of Your Growth Plans

This is also a useful test of the relationship you have with your current IT provider.

If you're planning significant recruitment, your provider shouldn't simply wait for you to submit a request for another laptop.

 

They should be able to help you understand what growth means for your technology.

A useful conversation might include questions such as:

• What is our typical IT cost for onboarding an employee?
• What equipment should we standardise?
• How much will our software costs increase?
• Does our current infrastructure support planned growth?
• Can onboarding tasks be prepared before someone's first day?
• At what point will we need to invest in additional capacity?
• Are there security risks we need to consider as the team grows?

The aim isn't to make recruitment more complicated. It's the opposite.

 

 

Turn IT Into a Predictable Cost of Recruitment

Liverpool businesses should be able to celebrate growth without every new employee creating another collection of unexpected IT decisions. Build technology costs into recruitment planning from the beginning. Know what equipment different roles require. Understand your software costs. Create repeatable onboarding and offboarding processes. Plan access and security in advance. And regularly consider what continued headcount growth means for the technology supporting the wider business. Do that well and IT becomes a predictable part of recruitment rather than another plate for management to keep spinning.

 

Planning to Grow Your Team?

If you're a Liverpool business leader planning recruitment, reviewing your IT costs or questioning whether your current IT provider is giving you enough strategic guidance, let's have a straightforward conversation.

 

There's no obligation and no hard sell. Just an opportunity to look at how your current technology supports your people, where future costs may arise and whether your IT is ready to support the next stage of your business.

 

📞 0151 733 3223
📧 hello@aabyss.uk
🌐 aabyss.uk

 

 

Let's make sure your next new starter arrives to find technology that's ready for them, rather than technology that's trying to catch up.