Team & hiring
Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)
Formula reviewed by Tahir Asif, CMA
A unit that converts part-time and contract hours into the number of full-time workers they equal.
One full-time equivalent is the hours of one full-time employee, commonly 40 hours a week or 2,080 hours a year. A part-time employee working 20 hours a week counts as 0.5 FTE, and ten of them count as 5 FTE. Contractors can be counted the same way when they fill a role that would otherwise be a full-time hire.
FTE headcount is used in productivity ratios, staffing plans and some legal thresholds. Averaging FTE over the period, rather than using a single date, smooths hiring and departures.
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