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Do you have a yearly "Utilization Target" at work?

A

ahurtt

Diamond Member
Anybody else in this boat? I work in a job where we have an annual "utilization target." For those not familiar this is a target percentage of the total available work hours in a year that you are expected to bill or else contribute to proposal work. For those of you that are in this same boat, do you know how your utilization rates and targets are calculated.

The formula basically looks like this for us:

number hours billed / total available hours

For me it's the total available hours that they use for our calculation I have a problem with. They use the basic number 2080 hours as the denominator in the equation. (That's an assumed 40 hour work week * 52 weeks per year = 2080 hours). They apparently do not take into account designated company holidays or employee vacation days when calculating the figures. Is this common practice? It seems fishy and unethical at the very least. Especially given that our target numbers are set high enough that you cannot take off more than about 6 days a year and still hit your target without working extra to make up for it. What it means is that you essentially have no vacation really even though the company may be telling you that you have 3 weeks per year. WTF man!?
 
If you are salaried then they own you. They can make you work 90 hours/week if they wanted to within some limits.
 
Originally posted by: ahurtt
Anybody else in this boat? I work in a job where we have an annual "utilization target." For those not familiar this is a target percentage of the total available work hours in a year that you are expected to bill or else contribute to proposal work. For those of you that are in this same boat, do you know how your utilization rates and targets are calculated.

The formula basically looks like this for us:

number hours billed / total available hours

For me it's the total available hours that they use for our calculation I have a problem with. They use the basic number 2080 hours as the denominator in the equation. (That's an assumed 40 hour work week * 52 weeks per year = 2080 hours). They apparently do not take into account designated company holidays or employee vacation days when calculating the figures. Is this common practice? It seems fishy and unethical at the very least. Especially given that our target numbers are set high enough that you cannot take off more than about 6 days a year and still hit your target without working extra to make up for it. What it means is that you essentially have no vacation really even though the company may be telling you that you have 3 weeks per year. WTF man!?
Click to expand...

2000 hours a year is the standard utilization target where I work. That averages about 41 hours a week for 49 weeks of work, since we get 3 weeks of vacation. Realistically, though, you need to work about 44 hours a week to make up for holidays and sick time.
 
I go to work some days a week, and space out for about 2 hours. After that, I answer emails for 15 minutes, surf the web, then go to lunch. After lunch (which is usually 1:30 - 2 hours later), I space out some more, answer some more emails. Damn, it's time to go home.

True story.
 
As a consultant I have a similar utilization # calculated but using 2080 is wrong -unless- they accounting for vacation and such elsewhere. Let's say hypothetically that they're expecting you to bill 85% of the time, for convenience let's say that your PTO/etc counts for 5% of your total time for the year, if they were then expecting you to bill 80% of the time of 2080 hours then it accomplishes the same thing as an 85% rate of a lower # of hours.
 
Just wait till they have you enter account numbers for different work profiles and punch out for bathroom breaks. Get over it, you are a paperclip that is rapidly depreciating. What are you doing posting? Get back to work you wastrel curr!
 
Originally posted by: SSSnail
I go to work some days a week, and space out for about 2 hours. After that, I answer emails for 15 minutes, surf the web, then go to lunch. After lunch (which is usually 1:30 - 2 hours later), I space out some more, answer some more emails. Damn, it's time to go home.

True story.
Click to expand...

Your boss wouldn't happen to be named Bill Lumburgh, would it? 🙂
 
Originally posted by: ultimatebob
Originally posted by: ahurtt
Anybody else in this boat? I work in a job where we have an annual "utilization target." For those not familiar this is a target percentage of the total available work hours in a year that you are expected to bill or else contribute to proposal work. For those of you that are in this same boat, do you know how your utilization rates and targets are calculated.

The formula basically looks like this for us:

number hours billed / total available hours

For me it's the total available hours that they use for our calculation I have a problem with. They use the basic number 2080 hours as the denominator in the equation. (That's an assumed 40 hour work week * 52 weeks per year = 2080 hours). They apparently do not take into account designated company holidays or employee vacation days when calculating the figures. Is this common practice? It seems fishy and unethical at the very least. Especially given that our target numbers are set high enough that you cannot take off more than about 6 days a year and still hit your target without working extra to make up for it. What it means is that you essentially have no vacation really even though the company may be telling you that you have 3 weeks per year. WTF man!?
Click to expand...

2000 hours a year is the standard utilization target where I work. That averages about 41 hours a week for 49 weeks of work, since we get 3 weeks of vacation. Realistically, though, you need to work about 44 hours a week to make up for holidays and sick time.
Click to expand...

Well at least they subtract 80 hours for you. Where I work, you cannot even take all the designated company holidays where business is closed nationwide without having to work extra to make up for it. Let alone your vacation. That's assuming you actually still want to make your target utilization number. But is this even legal? It's shady at best. It's bait and switch really. . .lure you in with the promise of 3 weeks vacation a year and then turn around and say "well not really."
 
Originally posted by: SoulAssassin
As a consultant I have a similar utilization # calculated but using 2080 is wrong -unless- they accounting for vacation and such elsewhere. Let's say hypothetically that they're expecting you to bill 85% of the time, for convenience let's say that your PTO/etc counts for 5% of your total time for the year, if they were then expecting you to bill 80% of the time of 2080 hours then it accomplishes the same thing as an 85% rate of a lower # of hours.
Click to expand...

My company does not do that. They give everybody in the same division the same target number regardless of how many weeks of vacation they "say" you have. The "say" they account for 3 weeks standard vacation (so subtract 120 hours from 2080) and they "say" they account for 96 hours of holiday time per year. But then they add back in an "assumed" 10% overtime (208 hours). So why even bother to give us holidays or vacation? Why don't they just axe one or the other because that's effectively what they are doing anyway. I guess then everybody would quit. But how effing dumb do they think we are? It's plain as the nose on my face. It's quite plain to see that since our performance ratings are based heavily on our utilization acheivment, we are penalized for actually trying to take the vacation and holidays to which we are supposed to be entitled.
 
Originally posted by: SSSnail
I go to work some days a week, and space out for about 2 hours. After that, I answer emails for 15 minutes, surf the web, then go to lunch. After lunch (which is usually 1:30 - 2 hours later), I space out some more, answer some more emails. Damn, it's time to go home.

True story.
Click to expand...


Sounds like my job.
 
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