Bench

Definition

Employees who are between projects and sitting idle—like players on a sports bench. It's a nice way of saying 'we're paying you to wait.'

Example Usage

Three developers are on the bench after the client project ended, so we need to find them billable work.

Origin

Sports terminology adopted by IT and consulting industries

Fun Fact

Consultancies measure their 'bench strength' as a key business metric

Source: Consulting Industry Terminology

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