By Intious · Updated September 10, 2026
A capacity gap is required hours minus available hours measured on the same basis. A positive number is a shortfall; a negative number is a surplus.
Try the calculator with your own figures.
Define the kind of hours you need
Suppose next week's work requires 360 productive hours. A team scheduled for 400 hours is not necessarily sufficient if meetings, training and other non-delivery time consume 20 percent. Its productive capacity is 400 × 0.8 = 320 hours. The productive shortfall is 40 hours. Do not compare productive demand directly with scheduled availability.
Translate the gap into scheduled hours
At the same 20 percent allowance, filling a 40-hour productive shortfall takes 40 ÷ 0.8 = 50 additional scheduled hours. That is 1.25 scheduled FTE at a 40-hour baseline. One additional 40-hour schedule would provide only 32 productive hours under this assumption. Keep the calculation visible before discussing whether to hire, redistribute work or change deadlines.
Choose a feasible staffing scenario
Two people at 25 hours can supply the same 50 scheduled hours as another combination of schedules, but they may have different availability and skills. Use the group planner to compare schedules. Its target is scheduled hours, so convert productive demand first when necessary. A total-hours comparison cannot promise service levels in a queue or identify the right mix of specialist roles.
Avoid counting the same absence twice
If you have already subtracted leave from the available schedule, do not subtract that same leave again through a general shrinkage allowance. Document what is included in each assumption. Review the figures when workload or attendance changes instead of treating last month's percentage as a permanent fact.
Frequently asked questions
What does a negative capacity gap mean?
Available hours exceed required hours on the chosen basis. It does not prove every shift has enough people.
Should I round a 1.25-FTE gap to two hires?
Only after deciding the schedules those hires would work. FTE measures hours; hiring decisions involve whole people and their actual availability.