Meetings are not free
A one-hour meeting with eight people uses eight hours of paid time. Because nobody receives a bill, that cost is easy to overlook. Putting a price on it helps decide which meetings are worth holding, who really needs to attend and how long they should last.
The formulas
- Hourly cost per person = annual salary × overhead multiplier ÷ paid hours per year
- Cost of one meeting = attendees × hourly cost × duration in hours
- Cost per year = cost per meeting × meetings per week × 50 working weeks
The overhead multiplier adds employer costs on top of salary: health insurance, retirement contributions, payroll taxes and paid leave.
Worked example
A weekly one-hour team meeting with 8 people earning an average of $75,000:
- Hourly cost per person: 75,000 × 1.3 ÷ 2,080 ≈ $46.88.
- For the group: 8 × 46.88 = $375 per hour, or $6.25 per minute.
- Cost per meeting: $375.
- Every week for a year: 375 × 50 = $18,750, and 400 person-hours.
Typical overhead multipliers
| Situation | Multiplier |
|---|---|
| Salary only | 1.0 |
| Small business, basic benefits | 1.2–1.3 |
| Large company, full benefits | 1.3–1.4 |
| Including office space and equipment | 1.5–2.0 |
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that benefits make up about 30% of total compensation for private industry workers, which corresponds to a multiplier of about 1.4 on wages.
Hidden costs not counted
- Preparation and follow-up: reading documents, writing notes.
- Context switching: research suggests it can take 20 minutes or more to return to deep focus after an interruption.
- Opportunity cost: the work that could have been done instead, often worth more than salary.
Making meetings cheaper
- Ask whether it needs to be a meeting. Status updates often work better in writing.
- Invite only decision makers and share notes with everyone else.
- Shorten the default from 60 to 50 minutes or from 30 to 25 to leave breaks.
- Send an agenda with the decision expected.
- Review recurring meetings each quarter and cancel those that no longer serve a purpose.
Cutting a weekly 8-person meeting from 60 to 30 minutes in the example saves more than $9,000 a year.
This calculator gives estimates for education and planning. It is not investment, tax or legal advice; for decisions about your own situation, talk to a qualified financial professional.