Hiring, or failing to hire, is one of the most financially consequential decisions any veterinary practice can make. Every employer knows bringing on new talent is expensive, but the real cost of not hiring quickly is often far greater.
Why Delays Can Cost Your Clinic More Than You Think
According to research across all industries (not just veterinary medicine) the costs to hire are not cheap.
- Average cost per hire: $4,700
- Average time to fill a role: 36–42 days
- Total compensation cost: Up to 40% above base salary when benefits are included
But what happens when a position stays open longer than 42 days?
It is estimated that a single vacancy costs employers $4,129 over 42 days – equating to around $98 per day.
In veterinary medicine, the stakes can be much higher.
Past experience with veterinary practices has shown that each veterinarian generates $400,000 in annual revenue. When you have several open positions within your practice, you can quickly see why a speedy hire is necessary.
Vacancies don’t just create inconvenience – they quietly drain productivity, morale, revenue, and most of all – profitability.
Six hidden costs of leaving a position unfilled in your veterinary practice.
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Increased workload and reduced productivity
The moment a role becomes vacant, the workload shifts to your existing team, which inadvertently leads to more responsibilities for the existing team, more stress, more potential burnout, lower accuracy and higher pressure.
As the pressure builds, productivity drops as overburdened employees can’t maintain quality or efficiency. It’s only a matter of time before you start to see a slip in the overall performance across your clinic.
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Lower customer satisfaction
When a clinic is understaffed and staff are visibly stressed, service inevitably suffers. Your customers will endure longer wait times, rushed consultations, and reduced attention to detail. Before you know it, pet owners start to look elsewhere when their needs are not being met.
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Missed Business Opportunities
With your team stretched thin, growth often stalls which may result in turning away new clients, delaying new service offerings or new strategic planning.
Having a lack of specialised staff can mean missing emerging trends or niche services, which at the end of the day is missed income opportunities.
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Poor Morale and Employee Turnover
A prolonged vacancy doesn’t just stress your team, it can fracture it to the very core. Employees who feel overworked or undervalued are more likely to become resentful, may check out mentally or leave the clinic entirely. Losing experienced team members compounds the vacancy problem and adds costs for recruitment, training, and onboarding.
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Disrupted Culture and Team Dynamics
When someone leaves a practice, there is an inevitable dynamics shift. When a role stays open for months, the disruption has the potential to become entrenched.
This can lead to communication breakdowns, fragmented teamwork, frustration from lack of support and an overall sense of instability and uncertainty. The roll-on effect can also happen, whereby your high performers may start seeking roles elsewhere as a result of the uncertain climate within the practice.
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Higher Recruitment Costs
A long-open role often becomes more expensive to fill with restarting job ads, re-running background checks, scheduling interviews and engaging recruiters – all increasing the total cost.
Every extra week the position remains unfilled adds labour, time and operational burden. The longer the vacancy, the higher the price tag.
How to keep your veterinary roles filled
At the end of the day, having experienced and well-trained staff leave your practice comes at a high cost. The good news is, there are simple steps you can take as a practice owner to retain your staff for the long term. It’s just a matter of being proactive and putting staff retention as a high priority.
Top 5 ways to avoid costly hiring delays
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Be proactive.
Don’t wait for candidates to find you — go after them!
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Be engaging.
Show candidates the value of working with you by highlighting culture, purpose, benefits and growth opportunities.
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Be decisive.
If you find a great candidate, move quickly. Waiting even a few days can mean losing them to someone else.
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Be generous
Strong candidates know their worth. Don’t lowball — it’s too expensive to start the hiring process all over again.
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Be thorough.
A strong onboarding experience reduces early turnover and strengthens long-term performance.
If you wish to remain a viable practice for many years to come, it’s imperative to prioritise fast and proactive hiring. The cost of waiting is simply too high, and staff will move to the next big thing before you know it.
Get in touch with our team to discuss your staff retention planning or assistance with your hiring process.
