The full-time equivalent, or FTE for Full-time equivalent, is a key figure that can be used to present the working capacity of full-time and part-time employees in a standardised way.
An FTE of 1,0 This corresponds to a full-time position based on the standard working hours set by the company. If a person works only a proportion of these hours, their hours are taken into account on a pro rata basis.
The basic calculation is as follows:
FTE = individual weekly working hours ÷ regular weekly working hours for a full-time post
One example:
| Employment | Weekly working hours | FTE based on a 40-hour full-time week |
| Full-time employee | 40 hours | 1,0 |
| Part-time employee | 30 hours | 0,75 |
| Part-time employee | 20 hours | 0,5 |
| Working student | 10 hours | 0,25 |
For example, if two employees each work 20 hours a week, together they amount to a full-time equivalent of 1.0 FTE.
FTE is often used to:
- to calculate the available working capacity
- to plan staffing requirements
- Comparing staff costs and budgets
- To compare teams or departments side by side
- to estimate the capacity requirements for projects
- Preparing personnel information for investors or funding bodies
A distinction must be made between FTE and the actual number of employees:
| Number of employees | FTE |
| every person in employment counts | measures the total working capacity |
| Two part-time employees count as two people | Two part-time posts add up to 1.0 FTE |
| shows the size of the team | shows the amount of available working time |
The exact calculation depends on what constitutes full-time employment in terms of weekly working hours at the company in question. Absences, fixed-term contracts or fluctuating working hours may also be taken into account, depending on the purpose of the analysis.
A common mistake is to equate FTEs with the number of employees. For example, a company with ten employees may only have seven FTEs if several people work part-time.
innoWerft helps start-up founders to plan their staffing requirements, team development and cost structures realistically, and to present the relevant key figures in a clear and comprehensible manner for financial planning, grant applications and discussions with investors.