Vacancy Rate: Formula and Worked Example for HR

Vacancy rate is the percentage of approved positions that are unfilled at a point in time. It compares open positions with the total sanctioned or budgeted positions, so it shows how much of the planned workforce is missing and where the gap sits, by department, location or role.

Formula

Vacancy rate (%) = Open positions on the date / (Filled positions + Open positions) x 100

Term	Meaning
Open positions	Approved positions with no employee in them on the measurement date, whether or not recruitment has started.
Filled positions	Approved positions occupied by an employee on the date, including people serving notice.
Filled + Open	The total approved, sanctioned or budgeted positions.

Worked example

A multi-speciality hospital in Nashik has 250 sanctioned positions. On 1 October 2026, 225 are filled and 25 are open. The nursing department accounts for 120 of the sanctioned positions, and 14 of those are open.

Total approved positions = 225 filled + 25 open = 250
Hospital vacancy rate = 25 / 250 x 100 = 10%
Nursing vacancy rate = 14 / 120 x 100 = 11.67% (11.667 rounded to 2 decimals)
Other departments = (25 minus 14) / (250 minus 120) x 100 = 11 / 130 x 100 = 8.46% (rounded to 2 decimals)

Result: One in ten sanctioned positions is empty, and nursing runs above the rest of the hospital at 11.67 percent. Nursing requisitions should come first, since those gaps turn straight into overtime and double shifts.

Point in time or average over a period

Vacancy rate is usually measured on a fixed date, such as the first of each month, and a monthly series shows whether gaps are closing or growing. For a quarter or a year, average the monthly readings instead of relying on one date that may catch an unusual day. Compare each department with its own history first, and then with departments that have similar roles and similar hiring difficulty.

Why vacancies matter beyond hiring

Every open position shifts work onto someone else. In hospitals, plants and stores that means overtime, double shifts and rushed work; in offices it means delayed projects and tired teams. Read the vacancy rate together with the overtime rate and shift coverage: a department with high vacancies and high overtime is paying twice for the same gap. Positions that stay open for months also raise a question worth asking: is the role still needed as designed?

Vacancy rate by department and location.
Average days positions have been open.
Positions open longer than your time-to-fill target.

Pitfalls in counting positions

Vacancy rate needs an approved list of positions, which many companies do not keep. Without one, you are really measuring open requisitions, which misses positions nobody has raised a requisition for yet. Keep a position list for each department signed off by finance, update it when the budget changes, and do not count temporary cover from a contractor as a filled position.

How to improve it

Keep an approved position list for each department and review it every quarter with finance.
Start recruiting as soon as a resignation is accepted, not after the last working day.
Keep a pool of past finalists and referred candidates for roles that fall vacant often.
Close or redesign positions that have stayed open for months without real impact on the work.
Offer internal transfers to fill hard-to-staff locations before hiring from outside.

Tracking it in ZeniaHR

ZeniaHR does not keep a sanctioned-position list, so HR maintains approved positions per department outside the system. Filled positions come from active employees in employee records, grouped by department and location, and recruitment analytics in the Recruitment Hub shows open requisitions. The headcount by department report exports as CSV; set it against your approved list to get the vacancy rate.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you calculate vacancy rate?

Divide the number of open positions on a date by the total approved positions, which is filled plus open, and multiply by 100. For example, a hospital with 25 open positions out of 250 sanctioned positions has a vacancy rate of 25 / 250 x 100 = 10 percent.

Is vacancy rate the same as open requisitions?

Not quite. Vacancy rate counts every approved position without an employee, whether or not a requisition has been raised. Open requisitions count only the positions recruitment is actively working on. If a manager has not yet asked to refill a post, it is a vacancy but not an open requisition.

Should positions with an accepted offer count as vacant?

Yes, until the new employee joins. The position is still empty and others are still covering the work. Some companies report these positions separately as offer accepted, awaiting joining, which is useful when long notice periods keep seats empty for weeks after the hiring decision.