🧭 Outplacement Services Pricing Calculator
Outplacement services help displaced employees land their next role, and companies that are downsizing, restructuring, or running layoffs pay well for the support. This calculator, straight from Dee's How To Charge workbook, prices the whole service line: per-head packages in three tiers, bulk group contracts, the monthly retainer that turns one client into recurring revenue, and full comp plans for the BDR who sells it and the career coach who delivers it. Run your numbers once free; the $27 one-time unlock keeps every section live forever and includes the Excel workbook.
1 · Individual tier pricing
Outplacement services are sold in tiers based on the depth of support. Higher tiers include more coaching sessions, career branding, and personalized attention. Price per displaced employee.
Resume review, 2 coaching sessions, job board access. Typical range: $500 to $1,500 per person.
How many employees at this tier?
Full resume rewrite, 5 coaching sessions, LinkedIn optimization, interview prep. Typical range: $2,000 to $4,000 per person.
Full career campaign, unlimited coaching, executive branding, 6 to 12 month support. Typical range: $5,000 to $10,000 per person.
Usually directors, VPs, and executives.
2 · Group / bulk pricing
When a company is displacing a large group at the same tier, offer a bulk discount. You give up margin per person but lock in a larger total contract.
Total number of employees in this bulk group.
Enter your standard price for the tier you are offering this group (Basic, Standard, or Premium).
Typical bulk discounts: 10% to 20%. Larger groups justify deeper discounts.
3 · Annual contract / retainer model
The most lucrative model: a monthly retainer for ongoing outplacement availability. The client pays you every month to be ready when separations happen. You become their go-to partner, not a one-time vendor.
What you charge monthly for ongoing availability and support. Typical: $3,000 to $15,000/month depending on company size.
How many displaced employees do you expect to support through this retainer?
4 · Combined annual revenue projection
How many separate outplacement engagements do you expect to close? Each engagement could be an individual tier package or a group deal.
5 · Role 1: business development rep (W2)
This person calls on HR leaders during layoffs, restructurings, and M&A events. They close individual engagements AND retainer relationships. Works for W2 (base + commission) or 1099: set base salary to $0 for a fully variable structure.
W2 only. Enter $0 for 1099. Market range: $50,000 to $70,000. A base keeps reps engaged through 30 to 90 day sales cycles.
W2: 8% to 12%. 1099: 12% to 18%. At a $30,000 group contract, 10% = $3,000.
Flat dollar per engagement closed. Enter $0 if using percentage only. Calculator uses whichever is higher.
When the rep closes a retainer contract, they earn this many months of the retainer fee as a bonus. Range: 0.5 to 2 months.
Realistic monthly close target. New reps: 1 to 2/month. Experienced: 3 to 5/month.
Enter 0.5 for one every two months, 1 for one per month.
Once engagements closed exceed this number in a month, the accelerator bonus kicks in.
Extra commission per engagement beyond the threshold. Range: $200 to $500.
Typical: 20% to 30% held until the client pays. Outplacement is billed NET 30 to NET 60. Enter 0 if no holdback applies.
How many months before held commission is released? Tie this to client payment confirmation.
5B · Role 1B: 1099 commission-only BDR
The 1099 outplacement BDR is a commission-only independent contractor. No base salary, no employer burden, no benefits from you. All inputs here are fully independent from the W2 section above.
Range: 12% to 20%. Higher than W2 to compensate for self-employment tax and no base. 15% is the validated midpoint.
New 1099 reps typically close 1 to 2/month. Experienced reps with existing HR networks: 3 to 4/month.
0.5 = roughly one new retainer every two months. Retainers are the crown jewel.
Range: 1 to 3 months. Higher than W2 to compensate for no base.
Once engagements closed exceed this in a month, the accelerator bonus kicks in.
Range: $250 to $600. No base means big months need meaningful rewards.
Typical: 20% to 25% for 1099 outplacement. Clients pay faster than large staffing contracts; 30 days is common.
1 month is typical for outplacement; faster payment terms than contract staffing.
6 · Role 2: career coach (delivers the service)
Your coach comp IS your cost of goods for this service. At $150/session x 5 sessions per Standard participant, you spend $750 to deliver a $3,000 engagement. Know this number before you price.
Enter $0 for a 1099 per-session coach. Market range: $45,000 to $62,000 for career coaches in outplacement settings.
What you pay per coaching session delivered. Range: $100 to $250/session. Set to $0 if using a W2 base salary.
Weighted average across your tier mix. Basic = 2. Standard = 5. Premium = budget 8 to 12.
How many individual participants does this coach serve per month? Align with your BDR engagement volume.
Paid when a participant lands a role. Rewards outcomes, not just hours. Range: $50 to $200. Set to $0 if not offering.
Once monthly participants served exceeds this number, the volume bonus kicks in.
Flat monthly bonus for coaching above the threshold. Rewards a full book managed efficiently.
Estimates for planning, not financial advice. Tier prices, commission rates, and close volumes are the workbook's guidance ranges; your market decides the real ones.
Does this resonate?
Companies restructure every year. Be the partner they already have on retainer.
If a high-margin, B2B service line built on helping people land their next role sounds like your kind of business, the platform can turn it into a real plan: positioning, your tier menu, and the week-by-week path to your first enterprise retainer.
Build my launch plan free →Good questions about this math
How much do outplacement services cost?
The workbook's per-head guidance runs in three tiers: Basic at $500 to $1,500 per person (resume review, 2 coaching sessions, job board access), Standard at $2,000 to $4,000 (full resume rewrite, 5 sessions, LinkedIn optimization, interview prep), and Premium at $5,000 to $10,000 for directors, VPs, and executives (full career campaign, unlimited coaching, 6 to 12 month support). Monthly retainers for ongoing availability typically run $3,000 to $15,000 depending on company size.
How does outplacement services pricing work?
Three models stack together: per-head tier packages priced per displaced employee, bulk group contracts with a 10 to 20 percent discount when a company displaces a large group at the same tier, and the monthly retainer, where the client pays you every month to be ready when separations happen. The retainer is the most lucrative model because you become their standing partner instead of a one-time vendor.
What should an outplacement per-head package include?
Match depth to tier. A Basic per-head package covers resume review, a couple of coaching sessions, and job board access. Standard adds a full resume rewrite, five sessions, LinkedIn optimization, and interview prep. Premium is a full career campaign: unlimited coaching, executive branding, reference management, and 6 to 12 months of support. Price each tier per displaced employee so the client's cost scales with headcount.
Should I hire the salesperson and coach as W2 or 1099?
The calculator models both. Just launching, the 1099 model keeps fixed overhead near zero: a commission-only BDR (12 to 20 percent of contract value) and a per-session coach ($100 to $250 a session). Once you have steady retainers and consistent monthly engagements, the W2 base may be worth it for stability. The built-in comparison table shows the cost and profit of each side by side.
Do I get the Excel version?
Yes. The $27 unlock includes the standalone Outplacement Services workbook (the exact sheet from Dee's How To Charge master, with every formula live) plus the START HERE guide tab, yours to download and keep.
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