What it costs, before you ask
Most recruitment firms make you get on a call to find out. Here are our rates.
Permanent hiring
8.33% – 16.67% of annual CTC
Charged only when your hire joins.
Individual roles, from executive assistant to engineering lead.
- Nothing to pay if we do not fill the role
- The rate depends on seniority and how scarce the skill is
- 8.33% is one month of the salary you were going to pay anyway
- No retainer, no database access fee, no per-vacancy listing charge
Contract & temporary staffing
Monthly margin per person deployed
Invoiced monthly, in arrears.
Project teams, seasonal peaks, and roles you are not ready to make permanent.
- The person sits on our payroll, not yours
- PF, ESI, professional tax and statutory compliance handled by us
- Contracts typically run three to twenty-four months
- Convert to permanent at any point
RPO
Fixed monthly fee plus a per-hire charge
Monthly retainer, agreed up front.
Continuous or high-volume hiring — GCC build-outs, BPO ramp-ups.
- A dedicated recruiter pod working as an extension of your team
- Usually the lowest cost per hire above roughly five hires a month
- Your employer brand, your process, our infrastructure
- Scales down again when the ramp ends
Executive search
Retained quoted per mandate
Staged across the search.
C-suite, functional heads, and confidential replacements.
- A genuine search rather than a shortlist from a database
- Confidential where the incumbent is still in seat
- Market mapping and competitor analysis included
- Quoted individually — talk to us
A worked example
So there is no ambiguity about what the percentage means in rupees.
- Role
- Senior BPO Team Lead, Gurugram
- Annual CTC offered
- ₹12,00,000
- Our fee at 8.33%
- ₹99,960
- Payable
- Once the candidate joins
- If they never join
- ₹0
What we do not charge for
These are common line items elsewhere in the Indian market. None of them applies here.
- Access to our candidate database
- Posting or advertising your vacancy
- Shortlists that do not lead to a hire
- Replacing a candidate who does not turn up on day one
- A joining fee from the candidate — we never charge candidates, for anything
Questions we get asked about fees
What do recruitment agencies charge in India?
Published market rates run from roughly 8.33% to 16.67% of annual CTC for permanent hiring, with retained executive search charged higher and quoted per mandate. 8.33% is the figure most often quoted because it equals one month of the salary. WSNE Consulting charges within that range, and only when your hire joins.
Do I pay anything if you do not find someone?
No. Permanent hiring with WSNE is charged on success only. There is no retainer, no database access fee and no charge for a search that does not produce a hire. Retained executive search is the exception and is agreed in writing before the search begins.
Is the fee calculated on base salary or total CTC?
On annual CTC — the full package including base, variable pay and allowances — which is the standard basis across the Indian market.
When is the invoice due?
On the candidate joining, not on offer acceptance. If a candidate accepts and then does not turn up, there is nothing to pay.
Which model is cheapest?
It depends entirely on volume. For a handful of hires a year, success-fee permanent hiring costs least. Above roughly five hires a month an RPO retainer usually works out lower per hire. We will tell you which one fits rather than defaulting to the most expensive.
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No obligation and nothing to pay unless someone joins. Since 2010, from our offices in Delhi and Dehradun.
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