FTE is short for “Full-Time Equivalent,” a unit used to represent employee workloads for projects and other company activities. The unit is useful for human resource management.
As workstyles diversify, FTE is a useful measure
While traditional workstyles often utilize full-time employees working on fixed-hour schedules, many companies are now introducing flexible systems such as short-time work and short-day work to facilitate other employee needs such as childcare and caregiving. As it has become challenging to uniformly measure employee workloads, FTE is being used as a new way of measuring work. By converting employee workloads into traditional full-time worker equivalents, FTE can be effectively utilized for budgeting and human resource management.
FTE makes it easier to calculate budgets and human capital
When managers allocate personnel for a project, they must consider how many employees are needed to complete the task. By using FTE as a unit to calculate workloads, they can better predict optimal labor allocations and more effectively manage costs.
As part of its workstyle reform, SoftBank Corp. (TOKYO: 9434) is promoting what it calls “Smart Work,” an initiative that takes advantage of diverse workstyles to increase productivity. With its “DW4000 (Digital Worker 4000)” project, SoftBank streamlined 4,500 FTE in-house work hours by using Robotic Process Automation (RPA), AI and other digital tools. This freed up time so employees could develop new businesses, concentrate on work of higher added value, and focus on creative tasks.
Related: SoftBank Corp.’s Smart Working Style
(Posted on April 21, 2023, Original article posted on August 1, 2022)
by SoftBank News Editors
