Guide
What Is a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE)?
A full-time equivalent, or FTE, converts a group of people working different hours into a single number expressed in full-time units. One person working a full week is 1.0 FTE. Two people each working half a full week are also 1.0 FTE combined. It lets an employer talk about workforce size in a way that is not distorted by part-time schedules.
The formula
FTE = scheduled hours ÷ full-time hours for the same period
"Full-time hours" is whatever the organisation defines as full-time — commonly 40 hours a week, sometimes 37.5 or 35. Over a year, 1.0 FTE is usually taken as 2,080 hours (40 × 52), and the US Affordable Care Act uses 30 hours a week as its full-time line for employer requirements.
A worked example
A small team, with full-time defined as 40 hours a week:
| Person | Hours / week | FTE |
|---|---|---|
| Alex | 40 | 1.00 |
| Sam | 40 | 1.00 |
| Priya | 24 | 0.60 |
| Jordan | 16 | 0.40 |
| Total | 120 | 3.00 |
Four people, but 3.0 FTE of work. Head count is 4; capacity is 3 full-time-equivalent staff.
Annualised FTE
For budgeting and grants, FTE is often calculated over a year using total paid hours:
annual FTE = total annual paid hours ÷ 2,080
Someone who worked 1,560 hours in a year is 1560 ÷ 2080 =
0.75 FTE. A role filled for only nine months of the year is
0.75 FTE even if it was full-time while occupied.
Where FTE is used
- Budgeting and headcount planning — approving "2.5 FTE" for a team rather than a fixed number of people.
- Grant and contract reporting — funders ask for effort in FTE, not names.
- Benefits eligibility — the ACA counts full-time and full-time-equivalent employees to decide whether the employer mandate applies (generally at 50 FTE).
- Productivity metrics — output per FTE compares teams of different sizes fairly.
- Cost modelling — a fully loaded cost per FTE (salary plus benefits and overhead) is a common planning figure.
FTE vs head count vs hours
- Head count is the number of people, regardless of hours.
- FTE is the number of full-time-equivalent schedules those people add up to.
- Hours is the raw total. FTE is just hours divided by a full-time yardstick.
A department can have a head count of 10 and an FTE of 7.5 if several staff are part-time. Neither number is "right" — they answer different questions.
Calculate it for your schedule
The working hours calculator on the Hours Worked page takes hours per week, weeks per year, and PTO and returns hours per week, month, and year plus the full-time-equivalent figure. The Salary to Hourly Calculator is useful for pricing a partial-FTE role.