Headcount and FTE are not a disagreement to paper over

A general manager will ask for “how many people we have.” Payroll will answer with the number they pay. HR will answer with the number who still have a pass. Finance will answer with FTE because the labour budget was built that way. None of them is lying.

The mistake is to pick the calmest figure for the packet. Part-time shop staff in a Batumi branch can make headcount look fat while FTE looks disciplined. A factory on 12-hour shifts can do the reverse if someone has coded those contracts as 1.0 because “they are always here.”

In a Workforce Picture we put both numbers on the opening page and write the contract rule underneath. If FTE is missing because hours are not in the file, we say FTE cannot be drawn — we do not manufacture it from a guess at a 40-hour week that the Labour Code discussion in the company has not settled.

When two figures appear, the conversation moves to which one the board will use for hiring freezes. That argument belongs in the room. It does not belong in a footnote you hope nobody reads.