Shrinkage Impact Calculator

Itemize every source of planned and unplanned shrinkage to see the true FTE cost of non-productive time. Breaks down breaks, training, coaching, PTO, absenteeism, and system downtime by impact.

Shrinkage is the gap between paid hours and productive handle time. This calculator models 12 common shrinkage categories — 7 planned (breaks, lunch, training, coaching, meetings, PTO, projects) and 5 unplanned (absenteeism, tardiness, system downtime, extended breaks, personal time).

The key formula: Required FTEs = Base Requirement / (1 - Total Shrinkage%). With 100 agents needed on the phones and 28.7% total shrinkage, you actually need ⌈100 / 0.713⌉ = 141 agents scheduled. The 41 additional FTEs represent your shrinkage overhead.

How to use: Set your base agent requirement (from Erlang) and fully-loaded annual cost per FTE. Adjust each shrinkage category using the sliders — defaults are typical contact center values. The impact analysis updates in real-time showing total FTEs needed, annual cost impact, productive minutes per shift, and cost per shrinkage point.

When to apply: Annual budget planning (translating phone requirement to headcount), identifying high-impact shrinkage reduction targets, benchmarking against industry (30-35% is typical), and building the business case for initiatives that reduce unplanned shrinkage.

The sensitivity callout is particularly useful: "Each 1% of shrinkage costs $X annually" gives leaders a concrete dollar figure to evaluate investments in attendance management, schedule optimization, or IT reliability.