Manhour

Manhour, or man-hour, is a unit of work representing the amount of labor performed by one person in one hour. It is commonly used to express the amount of effort required to complete a task, rather than a direct measure of calendar time. The term appears in plural as man-hours.

Calculation is straightforward: Total man-hours = number of workers × hours worked. For example, ten workers working for 10 hours each contribute 100 man-hours; a single worker working 100 hours also yields 100 man-hours. The unit is also referred to as person-hours or labor-hours, depending on terminology preference.

Applications and limitations: Man-hours are widely used in project planning, budgeting, scheduling, and capacity planning to estimate workload and staffing needs. However, they do not account for productivity differences, skill levels, experience, breaks, or technology, and they do not always translate directly into real-world calendar time. They are a measure of effort, not of value or duration in isolation.

Terminology and trends: The term is sometimes criticized for gendered language, leading many organizations to use neutral alternatives such as person-hours, labor-hours, or work-hours. While still common in some industries, neutral terminology is increasingly preferred in modern planning and reporting.