The Open Roles report is used to review unstaffed resource allocations that exist across your organization. Reviewing this is key to preventing revenue leakage (unbilled work).
Addressing unassigned roles in your active projects removes any planned revenue that ultimately won’t get worked because it was left unstaffed. Similarly, addressing the same unassigned roles in late-stage sales opportunities helps prevent lost revenue from projects that started without a full team ready to bill.
This report can be viewed by hours or by full-time equivalents (FTE). A full-time equivalent is a unit of measurement used to forecast workforce needs. The calculation for a FTE is planned hours divided by company base capacity.
How to Use the Open Roles Report to Identify Missing Resources
Step 1: Access the Open Roles Report
Navigate to the Open Roles report under the Resourcing Reports section in Insights. This report shows roles that are planned on projects but have no assigned person.
These are your unfilled seats. Think of it as your team’s “help wanted” board.
Step 2: Use Filters for Clarity
Apply filters by:
Department (Design, Dev, Strategy, etc.)
Role Type (e.g. Sr. Frontend Dev, PM)
Project Type (Client vs Internal)
Status (In Progress, Awaiting Start, etc.)
Time Horizon (use Next 8 Weeks for near-term gaps)
Tags (by skill)
This helps you isolate whether it’s a one-off role that’s just waiting on a shuffle — or the start of a systemic need.
Step 3: Investigate Context
Click into individual roles or use the project view to understand:
How many hours are shaped?
When is the work scheduled to start?
Is this role tagged to a priority account or strategic initiative?
You’re looking for urgency, duration, and value — not all open roles are equal.
Step 4: Loop into Resource Management Meetings
This is where the Operations Cadence comes in strong. Bring those roles to your weekly Resourcing Meeting.
Discuss:
Can this be filled with internal capacity (shuffle from lower-utilized team)?
Do we need to open a Requisition (triggering hiring)?
Can a Contractor or Team Swap fill the need short-term?
This keeps you out of the “we needed someone two weeks ago” loop.
Step 5: Track Trends Over Time
Use Saved Views in the Open Roles Report to track repeating patterns:
Are certain departments always understaffed?
Are new projects regularly shaped before a hiring plan exists?
Are there bottlenecks with specific teams or time periods?
That’s where resourcing maturity really kicks in — when you're solving tomorrow’s fires today.
Bonus: Combine with the People Listing Page
Check if you have any unassigned people sitting idle that could cover open roles. It's your “musical chairs” check between open roles and available supply.
Use the Open Roles Report weekly to:
Identify and prioritize unfilled demand
Drive hiring and reallocation decisions
Sync with project priority and timeline
Stay ahead of utilization and delivery issues
Pair it with Saved Views + Resource Meetings and you’ll be forecasting & Resourcing like a Parallax Pro!