Full-time equivalent - Definition and Overview

Full-time equivalent (FTE) is a way to measure a worker's productivity and/or involvement in a project. An FTE of 1.0 means that the person is equivalent to a full-time worker (and, usually, it is just one). An FTE of 0.5 may signal that the worker is only half-time, or that his projected output (due to differences in qualification, for example) is only half of what one may expect. Typically, different scales are used to calibrate this number, depending on the type of institution (schools, industry, research) and scope of the report (personnel cost, productivity).

Although the generally accepted human-resources meaning for the "E" in FTE is "equivalent", the term is often overloaded in colloquial usage to indicate "direct, as opposed to contract, full-time employee". As in "Jane is an FTE, whereas Ralph is a contractor".