How to Calculate FTEs
FTE stands for Full-Time Equivalent. This is a unit that indicates the workload of an employed person in a way that makes workloads or workforces comparable across various contexts.
A full-time employee is typically considered to be working 40 hours per week. Here’s how to calculate the FTE:
- Identify the Total Number of Hours Worked: This includes the hours worked by both full-time and part-time employees during a certain period.
- Identify the Full-Time Hours for the Period: Typically, full-time hours are 40 per week. But this can vary depending on the company or the country. For example, if you’re calculating FTEs for a year, the full-time hours would be 40 hours/week * 52 weeks/year = 2,080 hours/year.
- Calculate the FTEs: Divide the total number of hours worked by the full-time hours.
Here’s the formula:
FTE = Total Hours Worked / Full-Time Hours
Let’s take an example:
Suppose in a week, you have:
- Two full-time employees who each work 40 hours per week (so, 2 * 40 = 80 hours)
- Four part-time employees who each work 20 hours per week (so, 4 * 20 = 80 hours)
So, the total hours worked in the week would be 80 (from full-time employees) + 80 (from part-time employees) = 160 hours
Assuming a full-time workweek is 40 hours, the FTE would be calculated as follows:
FTE = 160 / 40 = 4
So, you have 4 FTEs. This means that the combined hours of your full-time and part-time staff are equivalent to the hours worked by 4 full-time employees.
Example of How to Calculate FTEs
Let’s take an example of a small business that employs both full-time and part-time staff:
- Full-Time Employees: The company has 10 full-time employees who each work 40 hours per week. So, their total hours are 10 employees * 40 hours/week = 400 hours/week.
- Part-Time Employees: The company also has 4 part-time employees who each work 20 hours per week. So, their total hours are 4 employees * 20 hours/week = 80 hours/week.
- Total Hours Worked: Therefore, the total hours worked in a week by all employees are 400 hours (from full-time employees) + 80 hours (from part-time employees) = 480 hours.
- Full-Time Hours: Let’s assume a full-time workweek is 40 hours.
- Calculate FTE: Now, we divide the total hours worked by the full-time hours:
FTE = Total Hours Worked / Full-Time Hours FTE = 480 / 40 = 12
So, the FTE for this company is 12. This means that the combined hours of the full-time and part-time staff are equivalent to the hours worked by 12 full-time employees.