Definition: A Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) is a unit of measurement used to standardise the counting of employment generated by a project or activity, regardless of whether individual workers are employed full-time, part-time, or on a casual basis. One FTE represents the workload of one person working full-time for one year — typically defined as approximately 38 hours per week for 52 weeks. In the context of major energy infrastructure projects, FTE job estimates are a standard component of economic impact assessments and Environmental Impact Statements (EIS), providing a consistent basis for comparing the employment benefits of different projects and investment options.
Why is FTE Used Instead of Simply Counting Jobs?
Major infrastructure projects like CopperString 2032 employ a highly varied workforce — full-time employees, part-time workers, contractors engaged for specific tasks, fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers on rotating rosters, and subcontractors who may work on the project for only a few weeks or months. Simply counting the number of individual workers would produce a misleading picture of the project’s employment contribution, because:
- A project employing 1,500 part-time workers for six months would appear to create more jobs than one employing 750 full-time workers for a full year — even though the latter represents more total employment
- Casual and contract workers engaged for brief periods would be counted equally with permanent employees, distorting comparisons
- Seasonal or stage-specific peaks in employment would not be comparable with steady-state operational employment
FTE resolves these issues by converting all employment into a common unit — the equivalent of one person working full-time for a full year — regardless of the actual employment arrangement.
How is FTE Calculated?
The FTE calculation converts actual hours worked into full-time equivalents:
FTE = Total Hours Worked ÷ Annual Full-Time Hours
Where Annual Full-Time Hours is typically 1,976 hours (38 hours/week × 52 weeks).
For example:
- 10 workers each working 38 hours per week for 52 weeks = 10.0 FTE
- 20 workers each working 19 hours per week for 52 weeks = 10.0 FTE
- 100 workers each working 38 hours per week for 26 weeks = 50.0 FTE
- 750 workers each working 38 hours per week for 52 weeks = 750 FTE
This standardisation allows the employment contributions of projects with very different workforce structures — construction versus operations, full-time versus casual, direct versus indirect — to be compared on a consistent basis.
Direct, Indirect, and Induced FTE Jobs
In economic impact assessments, FTE jobs are typically reported across three categories that capture the full breadth of a project’s employment contribution:
Direct FTE Jobs Employment created directly by the project itself — including construction workers, engineers, project managers, environmental monitors, and operational staff employed by the proponent or its principal contractors. This is the figure most commonly cited in project approval documents.
Indirect FTE Jobs Employment created in businesses that supply goods and services to the project — including steel fabricators, cable manufacturers, concrete suppliers, catering companies, transport operators, and professional services firms. Indirect jobs arise throughout the supply chain that supports the project’s direct activities.
Induced FTE Jobs Employment created when direct and indirect workers spend their wages in the local and regional economy — at supermarkets, restaurants, accommodation providers, schools, and health services. Induced employment reflects the multiplier effect of project spending flowing through the broader community.
Total economic impact assessments will typically report all three categories combined — though direct FTE jobs are the most reliably estimated and the most commonly cited in project approval contexts.
Construction FTE vs. Operational FTE
For major infrastructure projects, it is essential to distinguish between:
Construction FTE Jobs Jobs created during the building phase of the project — which are temporary by nature, lasting only for the duration of construction. These jobs are typically larger in number but finite in duration.
Operational FTE Jobs Jobs created to run, maintain, and manage the completed infrastructure over its operational life — which are permanent or long-term positions that persist for the life of the asset.
The distinction matters because:
- Construction jobs, while significant, do not represent lasting employment in the local community
- Operational jobs represent ongoing economic activity, income, and community population support
- For remote regional communities, the ratio of operational to construction jobs is often a critical indicator of a project’s long-term contribution to regional sustainability
Real-World Example: CopperString 2032
The CopperString 2032 Project reports its employment contribution using the FTE measure — as is standard for coordinated projects assessed by the Queensland Coordinator-General:
- Up to 750 FTE construction jobs — representing the peak workforce required to build approximately 1,000 kilometres of high-voltage transmission line, up to six new substations, and associated ancillary infrastructure across remote Queensland
- 30 FTE operational jobs — representing the permanent workforce required to operate and maintain the completed network over its operational life
These figures reflect the direct employment generated by the project itself. The broader indirect and induced employment effects — through supply chain activity and wage spending in regional communities across the seven local government areas traversed by the project — would add further to the total economic employment contribution.
The contrast between 750 construction FTEs and 30 operational FTEs is characteristic of linear infrastructure projects like transmission lines — which are highly labour-intensive to build but relatively lean to operate once complete. This ratio underscores the importance of maximising local content and supply chain engagement during construction to maximise the lasting economic benefit to regional Queensland communities.
FTE Jobs in Environmental Impact Statements
In Queensland’s coordinated project EIS process, FTE job estimates are a standard component of the socioeconomic impact assessment that proponents must prepare as part of their EIS. This assessment typically addresses:
- The number and type of direct FTE jobs to be created during construction and operation
- The skills and qualifications required, and the extent to which they can be sourced locally
- The expected residential location of workers — local hire, FIFO, or drive-in drive-out (DIDO)
- The economic multiplier effects on regional communities and businesses
- The potential for local procurement and supply chain development
- Workforce management plans to minimise negative social impacts of large construction workforces in small communities
The Coordinator-General’s evaluation report may impose conditions on the proponent relating to local employment and procurement — requiring minimum targets for local hire or regional supply chain engagement as a condition of project approval.
Limitations of FTE as an Employment Metric
While FTE is the standard employment metric in Australian infrastructure assessment, it has several important limitations:
- It does not indicate job quality — a high-paying permanent engineering role and a minimum-wage casual position both count as one FTE
- It does not capture geographic distribution — FTE figures do not indicate how many jobs will be held by local residents versus FIFO workers from outside the region
- It does not reflect skills diversity — the mix of trades, professional, and unskilled roles within the FTE total is not visible from the headline figure alone
- It is a point-in-time measure — peak construction FTE figures may not reflect average employment over the full construction period
- Indirect and induced multipliers vary — the economic multiplier assumptions used to estimate indirect and induced FTE can vary significantly between assessments, making comparisons across projects unreliable
For these reasons, FTE job figures should always be read alongside the qualitative socioeconomic narrative in an EIS — not as a standalone metric.
Key Takeaway
Full-Time Equivalent jobs are the standard unit of employment measurement in Australian energy infrastructure assessment — providing a consistent, comparable basis for reporting the workforce contribution of major projects across their construction and operational phases. For communities, governments, and investors engaged with projects like CopperString 2032, understanding what FTE figures mean — and what they do not tell you — is essential to forming a complete picture of a project’s true employment and economic development contribution.
Published on energyplanning.com.au | Energy Planning Glossary
// RESOURCES & REFERENCES
📋 Legal
▸ Terms of Use// OUR PARTNERS & NETWORK
// SUPPORT OUR MISSION
✨ Help us continue building tools that simplify complexity!
Every contribution fuels new features and improvements.
Thank you for being part of our journey! 🚀
// CONTACT US