Full-time equivalent: a way to express working time as a proportion of a defined full-time workload.
FTE converts working hours into units of a defined full-time workload. Divide the hours being measured by the full-time hours for the same period. If full time is 40 hours a week, a person working 20 hours represents 0.5 FTE, and two such people together represent 1.0 FTE. Headcount would still record two people. This distinction makes FTE useful when comparing staffing capacity across teams with different working patterns. The full-time baseline must be stated or understood before interpreting a figure, because the abbreviation alone does not specify weekly hours.
In job listings
Gucci’s Team Manager posting in Toronto required liaison with Store Managers to schedule FTE according to team members’ capabilities and traffic flow, ensuring appropriate coverage. Here the measure supported a concrete retail staffing task. To convert those staffing units into hours, a manager would need Gucci’s full-time baseline. Search local jobs for “fte”.
