Bench

Bench is a pure cost: the firm pays salaries and overhead without generating revenue. Some level of bench (typically 10-15%) is physiological to handle project transitions and unforeseen demand spikes.

Chronically high bench signals pipeline issues or a mismatch between available skills and client demand. Mature firms use bench time for training, internal initiatives, presales or IP development. The PSA tracks in real time who is on bench, for how long, and with what skills, feeding the staffing process and decisions on hiring or offboarding.

Bench is easier to shrink than to justify, which is why firms tend to overcorrect. Cutting it to near zero removes the buffer that absorbs a project starting two weeks early, and the cost reappears as declined work or as people pulled off engagements mid-delivery. The useful question is not how to eliminate bench but what level of it the pipeline volatility actually requires.

Not all bench is equal, and treating it as one number hides the decision. A senior with a scarce skill available for three weeks is a very different situation from a junior available for three months, and the two call for opposite responses: one for a short internal assignment, the other for a serious conversation about demand. Reporting bench by role and duration makes that distinction visible.