What was the firm's cost per hire if they spent $40,000 on internal recruitment and $100,000 on external recruitment, with an end-year total of 120 employees?

To determine the firm's cost per hire, you need to first calculate the total recruitment costs and then divide that by the total number of hires.

In this case, the firm spent $40,000 on internal recruitment and $100,000 on external recruitment. Adding these two amounts gives a total recruitment expenditure of $140,000 ($40,000 + $100,000).

Next, since the firm ended the year with 120 employees, it is the total hires that matter for the calculation. To find the cost per hire, you divide the total recruitment costs by the total number of hires:

Cost per hire = Total recruitment costs / Total number of hires

Cost per hire = $140,000 / 120 employees

Calculating that yields:

Cost per hire = $1,166.67

However, if the question was framed around the costs associated with hiring new employees rather than the entire workforce count, it can be understood as $140,000 total costs that have to be attributed to the amount of new hires, based on the context provided. Thus, if additional context indicated that all current employees were new hires, it would show the calculation as yielding approximately the same outcome, assuming a constant influx of employees.

This calculation clarifies how