Bench resources
The consultants a firm has between projects right now, what it keeps on its bench list, and what each one costs.
Reviewed by Hassen Hattab, founder of BenchBee Updated
Bench resources are the consultants an IT consultancy employs who are not on a client project right now: available, paid, and waiting for their next assignment. The term names the people, where bench time names the days they spend waiting. Firms track them on a bench list, often a spreadsheet the resource manager shares with sales, and each one costs the firm their full salary and overhead until they bill again. In the US and India, recruiters also market bench resources to clients, a practice called bench sales.
Bench resources, bench list, bench sales: what the words mean
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Bench resources | The consultants available between projects at a given moment, counted as people. |
| Bench time | The days those consultants spend employed and available but not billed. |
| Bench list | The document that lists them: role, skills, seniority, date available and day rate. Shared inside the firm, sometimes with trusted partners. |
| Bench resource management | The work of tracking who is on the bench, and when, and getting them back on billed work. |
| Bench sales | In the US and India, recruiters who market a firm's benched consultants to clients and other firms. |
Bench resources are employees, not freelancers. A consultant on the bench keeps their contract, their salary and their employer. The days they wait are bench time.
What a bench list holds
A bench list is only useful if sales can act on it the same day. A useful line holds five things:
- Role and seniority. “Senior Java developer”, in the words a client searches for.
- Skills. The technologies, languages and certifications that matter for the next project.
- Available from. The date, kept true. A consultant who left the bench last week and is still listed costs trust.
- Day rate. The rate the firm will accept, so a match is not lost on price at the end.
- Sectors. The industries they have worked in, without the clients' names.
What bench resources cost
Every consultant on the bench costs their full employment cost for each working day, and brings in nothing until they bill again.
Illustrative example: a consultant on a £65,000 salary costs the firm about £406 per working day once employer National Insurance, pension, benefits and overhead are added. Three such consultants on the bench for four weeks, 20 working days each, cost about £24,400, with nothing invoiced.
The full calculation, with the costs payroll does not show: What bench time really costs an IT consultancy.
How firms manage bench resources
| Approach | What it does | Its limit |
|---|---|---|
| A weekly bench review | Sales, delivery and the resource manager go through the list together | It finds the gap; it does not fill it |
| Redeploying on existing accounts | Puts the consultant on a current client's work | Only if a client has the need, often at a lower rate |
| Internal projects and training | Keeps skills current | The time is still unbilled |
| Lending to peer firms | Bills the consultant to another firm for the length of the gap | Limited to the firms you know, unless you join a network |
Bench resource management tools are mostly resource-planning software: they show who is on the bench and when, inside your own firm. They do not find the consultant work at another company. More ways to cut the cost: How to reduce consultant bench time costs.
Bench resources on BenchBee
BenchBee is a private network of verified IT consultancies in the UK, Europe and the GCC. A consultancy lists its bench resources as profiles: role, skills, availability and day rate, with no consultant name and no firm name. Peer consultancies with a project to staff can send a match request, and IT recruitment agencies post the roles their clients need filled. The two firms agree terms directly, the consultant stays employed by their own firm, and BenchBee takes no commission. Step by step: How to list your benched consultants on BenchBee.
Recruiting for a client? Benched consultants are employed, vouched for by their consultancy, and available now. See how agencies post a role.
Frequently asked questions
What does bench resources mean?
Bench resources are the consultants a firm has on the bench right now: employed, available, and waiting for their next project. Bench time is the days they spend waiting.
Is a bench resource a freelancer?
No. A bench resource stays employed by their consultancy, with their salary, contract and employer unchanged. A freelancer is self-employed and sells their own time.
What is a bench list?
A bench list is the document a consultancy keeps of its consultants between projects: role, skills, seniority, the date each one is available and the day rate. Sales and delivery use it to place them on the next project.
What is bench sales?
In the US and India, bench sales is the work of recruiters who market a consultancy's benched consultants to clients and other firms. The consultant stays employed by their consultancy.
What is a bench resource management tool?
Usually resource-planning software that shows who in your firm is available and when. It plans your own people's time; finding them work at other firms takes a network of firms looking for those skills.
Who pays for bench resources?
The consultancy that employs them, every working day, until they are billed again.
The £65,000 salary and £406 daily cost are an illustrative example, not a benchmark (the same numbers as the cost article).
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