The story behind the meeting cost calculator
A meeting looks free on the calendar, but every person in the room is paid for that hour. Putting a price on it is an old idea with a long history, from an eighteenth century printer to modern calendar tools.
Time is money
In Advice to a Young Tradesman (1748), Benjamin Franklin wrote: Remember that time is money. He meant that an idle hour has a real price, the wages you could have earned. A meeting multiplies that price by every person who attends.
Parkinson and the bike shed
In a 1955 essay in The Economist, C. Northcote Parkinson observed that work expands to fill the time available. In his later book he added the law of triviality: a committee approves a costly reactor in minutes but argues at length about a cheap bike shed, because everyone understands the shed. Seeing a live cost helps a group notice when that is happening.
What managers say
In a 2017 Harvard Business Review article, Leslie Perlow, Constance Noonan Hadley and Eunice Eun reported a survey of 182 senior managers. 65 percent said meetings keep them from completing their own work, and 71 percent called meetings unproductive and inefficient. In 2023 Shopify added a meeting cost calculator to employee calendars for the same reason.
From salary to cost per minute
A full time year in the United States is often counted as 2080 hours, 40 hours times 52 weeks. After holidays and leave, many European jobs are closer to 1600 to 1800 hours, which is why the calculator starts at 1800. Employers also pay taxes, pension and benefits on top of salary, often estimated at 20 to 40 percent. Divide the yearly cost by the hours to get an hourly rate, then by 60 for the cost per minute.
Frequently asked questions
Is the result exact?
It is an estimate. It depends on the rates and hours you enter. The timer itself is exact to the second because it is based on timestamps.
How many working hours per year should I use?
Use 2080 for a simple United States full time year, or around 1600 to 1800 for many European jobs after leave and holidays. Your HR department can give the exact figure.
Should I include overhead?
If you want the true cost to the employer, yes. Add a percentage for taxes, pension and benefits, often 20 to 40 percent. Leave it at 0 to see salary cost only.
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