Revealing the charging standards of Chengdu headhunting companies in 2025

In today's fiercely competitive business environment, talent has become the core driving force for enterprise development. Chengdu, as a major economic center in Southwest China, sees a continuously increasing demand for mid-to-high-end talent among enterprises, making the role of headhunting companies increasingly prominent. However, for many companies, the fee standards of headhunting companies are like a mysterious veil, making them difficult to understand. Let's uncover the mystery of the 2025 Chengdu headhunting company fee standard and delve into the logic and mechanisms behind it.

Revealing the charging standards of Chengdu headhunting companies in 2025

I. Headhunting Fee Percentage Range

Chengdu headhunting companies generally charge fees based on a percentage of the candidate's annual salary, with this percentage generally fluctuating between 20%-25%.

II. Headhunting Fee Models

1. Success Fee Model

This is the most common charging model in the Chengdu headhunting market. Headhunting companies only charge a fee based on a predetermined percentage of the candidate's annual salary after successfully recommending a candidate to the company and the candidate officially joins the company. This model means that companies only incur expenses when their recruitment goals are achieved, greatly reducing the risk of upfront investment. Companies do not need to pay for the unsuccessful search work of the headhunting company, encouraging the headhunting company to do its utmost to find a highly compatible candidate for the company in order to obtain the corresponding remuneration.

2. Prepayment Model

Before the headhunting service starts, companies need to pay a certain amount as project start-up funds. This prepayment generally accounts for 30%-50% of the total fee. After the candidate successfully joins the company, the company will settle the remaining fee. The prepayment model allows the headhunting company to invest sufficient resources at the beginning of the project and focus on talent search work, but companies need to bear some upfront financial pressure. At the same time, if the headhunting company fails to successfully recommend a suitable candidate, the return of the prepayment may be uncertain, and relevant clauses need to be clearly defined in the cooperation agreement.

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3. Regular Payment Model

Suitable for situations where companies and headhunting companies establish a long-term and stable cooperative relationship. Both parties sign a long-term cooperation agreement, and the company pays a fixed fee to the headhunting company on a monthly or quarterly basis. The headhunting company will continuously provide talent recruitment services to the company during the cooperation period. This model helps companies obtain stable talent support over a longer period, and the payment is relatively dispersed, making it easier for companies to conduct financial planning and budget management. For headhunting companies, it also provides a stable source of income, allowing them to better understand the needs of the company and provide more targeted services.

4. Hybrid Model

Some headhunting companies will flexibly combine the above models based on the specific needs of the company's recruitment projects and their own service advantages to tailor personalized charging plans. For example, based on prepayment, the remaining fees are collected in stages according to the recruitment process; or in the regular payment model, a success fee model is used to charge extra for specific high-difficulty positions. This hybrid model can better meet the diverse recruitment needs of companies, and also reflects the flexibility and professionalism of headhunting companies.

III. Factors Affecting Headhunting Fees

1. Job Level

High-level management positions, such as CEO, CFO, etc., not only require candidates to have excellent leadership skills, profound industry experience, and forward-looking strategic vision, but also because such talents are extremely scarce in the market, headhunting companies need to search for suitable candidates in a wide range, even across national borders, investing a huge amount of time, energy, and professional resources. Therefore, the fee standard is correspondingly higher, and the fee percentage is often in the higher range of 30%-40%.

The difficulty of recruiting mid-level management positions is relatively lower, and the fee percentage is generally between 20%-30%. For entry-level positions, because the talent reserve is relatively sufficient, the involvement of headhunters is relatively low, and even if involved, the fee percentage is mostly between 15%-20%.

2. Industry Characteristics

High-tech, finance, and other industries have extremely high requirements for professional technology, knowledge reserves, and industry experience, and the talent cultivation cycle is long, with the supply of professional talents that meet the requirements being insufficient in the market. To meet the recruitment needs of enterprises, headhunting companies need to spend a lot of resources to expand search channels, and even explore potential cross-border talents, resulting in a significant increase in service costs, so the fees are also increased accordingly.

In traditional manufacturing, wholesale and retail industries, the talent market is relatively mature, the talent supply is relatively stable, and the recruitment difficulty is relatively low, so the headhunting service fee standard is also relatively stable, usually between 20%-25%.

3. Regional Differences

In economically prosperous areas of Chengdu with a high concentration of enterprises, such as the High-tech Zone and Tianfu New Area, the demand for talent is strong, and talent competition is fierce. Headhunting companies operating in these areas face higher operating costs, including office space rental and professional talent salaries, so the fee standards are relatively high.

In areas with relatively lagging economic development and fewer enterprises, the demand for headhunting services is limited, and operating costs are also lower, so the fees will be correspondingly lower.

4. Service Content

If the headhunting company provides services beyond the scope of conventional talent recommendation, and also includes value-added services such as background checks, talent assessment, salary negotiation, and onboarding guidance, the fees will inevitably increase. Comprehensive and in-depth background checks require a lot of time to verify the candidate's work experience, performance, credit status, etc.; professional and scientific talent assessment requires the use of advanced assessment tools and methods to accurately assess the candidate's abilities, personality, and professional qualities; effective salary negotiation requires rich experience and negotiation skills to balance the interests of both the company and the candidate; and thoughtful onboarding guidance can help candidates better integrate into the company. These value-added services increase the operating costs of the headhunting company, which is reflected in the fees.

5. Candidate's Annual Salary

The candidate's annual salary is a direct factor in determining the headhunting fee, as the fee is calculated as a certain percentage of the annual salary. The higher the annual salary, even if the fee percentage remains unchanged, the higher the fee amount the headhunting company will receive. This encourages headhunting companies to comprehensively weigh the relationship between the company's salary budget, job requirements, and fees when searching for candidates, ensuring that the candidates recommended to the company both meet the job requirements and allow the headhunting company to obtain reasonable income. At the same time, when setting salaries, companies also need to consider the cost of headhunting fees to develop a reasonable recruitment budget.

The fee standards of Chengdu headhunting companies in 2025 are affected by the interaction of various factors, with diverse fee models and a certain degree of flexibility in the percentage range. When seeking headhunting services, companies should combine their own recruitment needs, financial budget, and the professional capabilities and service quality of the headhunting company, and fully communicate with the headhunting company to clarify key clauses such as service details, fee standards, and payment methods, achieving efficient and economical talent recruitment goals and injecting strong impetus into the company's sustainable development.