Placement, markup and conversion, worked out in dollars
Robert Half fees, how much Robert Half charges employers for placement, contract and conversion
Robert Half quotes every search privately, so the fees only become real once you are already in the conversation. This page prices the three charges for a US marketing hire before that call, and shows the one scenario most employers underestimate: temp to hire, where you pay the markup and then pay again to keep the person.
$100,000 marketing manager
- Placement at 25 percent
- $25,000
- Temp to hire, 13 weeks then convert
- $32,480
- Post the role here
- $149 a month
No roles match those filters. Widen your search.
Marketing roles by specialty
A role goes on the board the moment the hiring company pays for it, and comes down when they stop the plan. Pick a specialty to see what is on the board now.
Marketing roles only · 11 specialties
Every role shown is posted and paid for by the hiring company.
The short answer
Robert Half charges employers in three ways and publishes none of the prices. A permanent placement is a one time fee of a reported 20 to 35 percent of first year pay, so a $100,000 marketing manager costs about $20,000 to $35,000. Contract marketers are billed hourly at a reported 30 to 75 percent above their pay. Keeping a contractor triggers a one time conversion fee. Candidates pay nothing, and permanent placements carry a 90 day guarantee period.
20 to 35%
placement, reported
30 to 75%
contract markup, reported
90 days
guarantee, published
Line by line
Robert Half fees, every charge an employer pays
The structure of each fee is published by Robert Half in its annual report. The percentages are not, so every number below that is not marked published comes from employers and comparison sites. For how Robert Half compares with other ways to fill the seat, see the Robert Half alternative for marketing hires.
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01Permanent placement fee
Structure published, percentage reportedReported 20 to 35 percent of first year pay
Robert Half states the fee is a percentage of the new employee annual compensation and is paid only by the employer. The percentage itself is quoted per search.
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02Contract bill rate
Hourly billing published, markup reportedWorker pay plus a reported 30 to 75 percent
The markup carries payroll taxes, insurance, benefits and the firm margin. You see the bill rate, rarely the pay rate.
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03Conversion fee, temp to hire
Fee published, amount negotiatedOne time fee, reported as a percentage of salary
Robert Half says clients converting contract talent typically pay a one time conversion fee. Many staffing agreements reduce it after a set number of hours. Ask for the schedule in writing.
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04Guarantee period
Published in the Form 10-KIncluded, 90 days on permanent placements
If the hire leaves inside the period, the remedy is usually a replacement search or a partial credit. The exact remedy is in your agreement, not on the website.
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05Candidate fees
PublishedNone
Robert Half charges nothing to job seekers. The whole cost of the service sits on the employer invoice.
Permanent hires
How much Robert Half charges for placement, by marketing role
One fee, paid once, scaled to the salary you already have to pay. Read across a row to see what each reported percentage costs. The listing column is what the same money buys as a $149 a month job post.
Marketing coordinator
$60,000 salary
At 25 percent, the fee equals 100 months of a live Starter listing.
Marketing manager
$100,000 salary
At 25 percent, the fee equals 167 months of a live Starter listing.
Marketing director
$150,000 salary
At 25 percent, the fee equals 251 months of a live Starter listing.
Contract marketers
Robert Half markup, what a contract marketer is billed at
Take a contract marketer paid $48 an hour, about a $100,000 salary spread over 2,080 hours. The markup is the gap between that pay and the bill rate you see. Robert Half does not publish it, so the three columns are the reported range.
| Reported markup | Bill rate you pay | Markup over 13 weeks | Markup over a full year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 percent | $62.40 an hour | $7,488 | $29,952 |
| 50 percent | $72 an hour | $12,480 | $49,920 |
| 75 percent | $84 an hour | $18,720 | $74,880 |
The markup is not all margin. It pays the employer side of payroll taxes, workers compensation, insurance and any benefits. That is real value when you need someone on a payroll this week, and it is why a short contract can be the right call. How the markup splits between payroll cost and agency margin, and the week a contract overtakes a placement fee, is worked out in staffing agency markup rates for a marketing contractor.
The double charge
Robert Half conversion fee, the temp to hire bill nobody adds up
Temp to hire sounds like a free trial. It is two bills. You pay the markup for every contract hour, then a one time conversion fee to move the person onto your payroll. Here is one marketing manager, at a reported 50 percent markup and a 20 percent conversion fee.
Weeks 1 to 13
$12,480
Markup paid on 520 contract hours at $48 pay and a $72 bill rate.
Week 14
$20,000
Conversion fee at a reported 20 percent of a $100,000 salary.
Total to keep one marketer
$32,480
On top of the pay itself, before a single day on your payroll.
Same money, as a job post
217 months
of a live $149 Starter listing for a marketing role.
Many staffing agreements reduce the conversion fee after a set number of contract hours. If you already expect to keep the person, ask for that schedule before the contract starts, or post the permanent role directly and skip the contract months entirely.
What the fee actually buys
The price of each screening hour you do not spend
A placement fee mostly pays for sourcing and screening, work your hiring manager would otherwise do. Divide a 25 percent fee on a $100,000 marketing manager, $25,000, by the hours of screening it saves. Nobody publishes that hour count, so here are three.
If the answer looks expensive, the cheaper route is putting the role where only marketers read it and doing the screening yourself. Our job posting cost comparison shows what each major US platform charges for that.
20 hours saved
$1,250
per screening hour
40 hours saved
$625
per screening hour
60 hours saved
$417
per screening hour
The honest test
Is Robert Half worth it for hiring a marketer?
Four situations where the fee is fair value, and where a job board cannot do what Robert Half does.
You need contract capacity on someone else payroll
A launch, a maternity cover, a campaign spike. A payrolled contractor with taxes, insurance and compliance handled is a product a job board does not sell. At a reported 50 percent markup on a $48 an hour marketer, eight weeks costs about $7,700 in markup, less than the internal hours of a full recruiting cycle.
Nobody on your team can screen
If there is no hiring manager with two hours a week for applications, the placement fee is buying time you genuinely do not have. That is a fair trade, and it is the main thing the percentage pays for.
The search is confidential
Replacing someone who has not left yet, or opening a role you cannot announce. A recruiter can run it quietly. A public job post cannot.
You want the 90 day guarantee
Robert Half reports a 90 day guarantee period on permanent placements. If a failed hire in month two would cost you a quarter, that insurance has a price, and the fee includes it.
The case where it is not worth it is the most common one: a permanent marketing seat you can screen yourself. There the fee is thousands of dollars for work a two hour weekly review of applications covers. Recruiter pricing across the market is broken down on our marketing recruiter fees page.
Side by side
Robert Half pricing against a marketing job post
| Robert Half | MarketerJob post | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | Recruiter labor, a shortlist, and payrolled contract capacity | A marketing role in front of marketers looking for one |
| Published price | None. Quoted per search and per contract | $149 a month Starter, $299 Featured, $999 Unlimited |
| What decides the bill | The salary, or the hours times the bill rate | Flat, whatever the role pays |
| Permanent marketing manager at $100,000 | Reported $20,000 to $35,000 once | $149 for each month the role is live |
| Contract or temp to hire | Yes, on their payroll, with a conversion fee to keep the person | Not offered. You employ or contract the person yourself |
| Who screens | Their recruiters | You, from applicants who are all marketers |
| Guarantee | 90 day guarantee period on permanent placements | None. You are buying reach for the role |
| Best for | Contract cover, confidential searches, no time to screen | A permanent marketing seat you can screen yourself |
Asked before signing
Robert Half fees, the questions employers search
How much does Robert Half charge employers?
Robert Half charges employers a placement fee for permanent hires, reported at 20 to 35 percent of first year pay, and an hourly bill rate for contract talent, reported at 30 to 75 percent above what the worker earns. It publishes no rate card. On a $100,000 marketing manager, a 25 percent fee is $25,000.
How much does Robert Half charge for placement?
A Robert Half permanent placement fee is a percentage of the new employee annual compensation, paid once by the employer. The firm does not publish the percentage. Employers and comparison sites report 20 to 35 percent, so a $60,000 marketing coordinator costs about $12,000 to $21,000 and a $150,000 marketing director about $30,000 to $52,500.
What is the Robert Half fee structure?
Robert Half uses three fee structures. Permanent placement is a one time percentage of first year pay. Contract work is billed hourly, with the markup built into the bill rate. Converting a contractor to your own employee triggers a one time conversion fee. Candidates pay nothing in any of the three.
What is the Robert Half fee schedule and guarantee?
The fee schedule is set in your client agreement, not on the website, and varies by role, city and volume. The guarantee is published: Robert Half reports a 90 day guarantee period on permanent placements. If the hire leaves inside it, the remedy is usually a replacement search or a credit, as written in the agreement.
Does Robert Half charge a conversion fee?
Yes. Robert Half says clients who convert contract talent to permanent employees typically pay a one time conversion fee. The amount is not published and is usually a percentage of salary. Many staffing agreements reduce it after a set number of contract hours, so ask for the reduction schedule before the contract starts.
How much does Robert Half take from the hourly rate?
Robert Half does not publish its markup. Third party reports put the gap between the bill rate and the worker pay at about 30 to 75 percent, which covers payroll taxes, insurance, benefits and the firm margin. At a 50 percent markup, a marketer paid $48 an hour is billed at $72.
Can I hire a Robert Half temp permanently?
Yes. You can hire a Robert Half contractor as your own employee, and you pay a one time conversion fee to do it. In a worked example, 13 weeks at a 50 percent markup plus a 20 percent conversion fee on a $100,000 salary comes to about $32,480 before the person is on your payroll.
Is Robert Half expensive?
Robert Half is expensive for a permanent hire you could screen yourself and fair value for contract cover you need on payroll this week. The fee scales with salary, so a marketing director costs far more to place than a coordinator. A flat job post costs the same whatever the role pays.
Can you negotiate Robert Half fees?
Staffing fees are commonly negotiated, and employers report lower percentages for exclusivity, volume or several roles at once. Ask for the placement percentage, the markup on contract roles, the conversion fee schedule and the guarantee remedy in writing before the search starts, while you still have leverage.
Is Robert Half worth it for hiring a marketer?
Robert Half is worth it for a contract marketer you need on payroll quickly, a confidential search, or a team with no time to screen. It is poor value for a permanent marketing seat you can screen yourself: the fee on a $100,000 manager equals more than a decade of a $149 a month job post.
How to read the figures: only the MarketerJob price is a published rate card. Robert Half publishes the structure of its fees and the 90 day guarantee period in its annual report, not the percentages. Every percentage here is what employers and comparison sites report. Salaries are round examples. Robert Half is a trademark of its owner and is named only for comparison.
Hiring a permanent marketer you can screen yourself?
Put the role in front of people who only look at marketing jobs. A Starter listing is $149 a month with no percentage of the salary, and you stop it the month the role is filled.
Keep going
Related pages for this budget
Robert Half alternative
Other ways to fill a marketing seat, and which fits which kind of need.
Marketing recruiter fees
Contingency, retained and executive search percentages across the US market.
Toptal pricing
Renting a freelance marketer by the hour, and where renting beats hiring.
Job posting cost
What each major US hiring platform charges to advertise a role, side by side.