Glossary
What is a full-time equivalent (FTE)?
Also known as: FTE.
A full-time equivalent, or FTE, is a way of expressing the size of a workforce as the number of full-time positions it adds up to, where a part-time person counts as a fraction of one according to the hours they work.
FTE converts a headcount of mixed working patterns into a single comparable number. Two people each working half of a full week count as one FTE between them, so FTE measures capacity rather than the number of individuals employed.
It is used for budgeting, workforce planning, and ratios such as revenue or cost per employee, where counting heads would distort the picture because part-time and full-time people are treated as if they were the same.
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