How to Determine Your IT Service Desk Staffing Ratio (2024)

FAQs

How to Determine Your IT Service Desk Staffing Ratio? ›

Accounting for data from Workforce, they've found that for organizations with less than 500 employees, the average ratio is 1:18, IT staff to employees. This ratio tends to increase as the organization gets larger, with organizations between 5,000 and 10,000 employees having a ratio of 1:25 on average.

IT Staffing Ratio Recommendations By Gartner

Gartner also provides recommendations for the ideal ratio of IT support staff to employees based on the size of the organization. According to Gartner, organizations with less than 2,500 employees should have a ratio of 1:70 to 1:100.

" An overall employee-to-help desk ratio of about 70:1 for organizations with a single operating system and network is considered suitable. That number drops to 45:1 for enterprise networks using a number of operating systems and no consistent hardware standard."

A desk-sharing ratio denotes how many people are using one desk. For example, if two people are using the same desk at different times throughout the week, this ratio would be 2:1. Traditionally, in offices where employees come in every day, the balance is 1:1.

Step 1: Number of rooms multiplied by number of hours per day multiplied by number of days per week = total hours to be staffed per week. Step 2: Total hours per week multiplied by number of people per room = total working hours per week. Step 3: Total working hours/week divided by 40 hours worked/week = basic FTE.

HR to employee ratio is a handy metric in workforce planning and is calculated by dividing the number of human resources (HR) staff by the total number of employees in an organization and then multiplying that by 100.

The ideal staff-to-patient ratio will vary depending on the type of healthcare facility and the needs of the patients. However, in general, a ratio of 1:4 or better is considered to be a good benchmark.

Calculating the best IT ratio of staff to employees

On the other hand, a manufacturing firm that employs a lot of manual workers will have a comparatively smaller IT department. However, some generalizations can be made: the average ratio across all sectors and company sizes is one IT worker for every 27 employees.

The ideal in an organization, according to modern organizational experts, is approximately 15 to 20 subordinates per supervisor or manager. However, some experts with a more traditional focus believe that five to six subordinates per supervisor or manager is ideal.

What is the ratio of desk to staff? ›

A desk to person ratio, also known as a desk sharing ratio, is the ratio of employees to available desks in a given office building or floor. An ideal ratio in a traditional working environment would be 1:1 (one desk for each employee).

According to Gartner Research the ideal Help Desk to user ratio is 70:1 while Robert Half puts it at 82:1.

Takeaways: What we saw at the National Ergonomics Conference echoed the results of older studies we've seen. Specifically studies that recommend a sit/stand ratio between 3:1 and a 1:1 ratio.

Accounting for data from Workforce, they've found that for organizations with less than 500 employees, the average ratio is 1:18, IT staff to employees. This ratio tends to increase as the organization gets larger, with organizations between 5,000 and 10,000 employees having a ratio of 1:25 on average.

If you are comparing one data point (A) to another data point (B), your formula would be A/B. This means you are dividing information A by information B. For example, if A is five and B is 10, your ratio will be 5/10. Solve the equation.

Calculating the best IT ratio of staff to employees

On the other hand, a manufacturing firm that employs a lot of manual workers will have a comparatively smaller IT department. However, some generalizations can be made: the average ratio across all sectors and company sizes is one IT worker for every 27 employees.

But no matter how well you treat your helpdesk staff, some level of turnover comes with the territory. It is an inevitable part of managing people. The technical service and IT support industry's average turnover rate is close to 40% per year .