Employee costs as a business factor?

Question

As a general rule, would you say that salaries & wages including fringe benefits and the employer's share of FICA and Medicare along with unemployment taxes represent a good portion of the expenses that any business incurs?

Answer 1

for most businesses I would agree but there are noticeable exemptions. Some companies use expensive materials and machines/infrastructure whose costs might outclass their employees costs (like chemical plants costing billions, or large diamond traders)

Some companies use so much outsourcing that they do not have payroll (you can outsource your employees to a professional employer organization).

Answer 2

after cost of materials (assuming they are a manufacturer) those are without question the next highest catagory of costs -

if they are not a manufacturer - lets say a CPA firm - then the cost of their employees is normally the highest since its their talents that are being sold