WORKFORCE SIZE MODEL

(DYNAMIC PROGRAMMING)

Dr Maaz Akhtar
Associate Professor
MED, NED UET
 Outline
• In some construction projects, hiring and
firing are exercised to maintain a labor
force that meets the needs of the project.
• Given that the activities of hiring and firing both
incur additional costs, how should the labor
force be maintained throughout the life of the
project?
• Let us assume that the project will be executed
over the span of n weeks and that the minimum
labor force required in week i is bi laborers.
• Theoretically, we can use hiring and firing to keep
the work-force in week i exactly equal to bi.
• Alternatively, it may be more economical to
maintain a labor force larger than the minimum
requirements through new hiring. This is the case
we will consider here.
• Given that xi is the actual number of laborers
employed in week i, two costs can be incurred in
week i: C1(xi - bi), the cost of maintaining an
excess labor force xi - bi, and C2 (xi - xi-1, the cost
of hiring additional laborers, xi - xi-1.
• It is assumed that no additional cost is incurred
when employment is discontinued.
 Workforce size method
The elements of the DP model are defined as
follows:

a) Stage i is represented by week i, i = 1, 2, ….. ,

n.
b) The alternatives at stage i are xi, the number of
laborers in week i.
c) The state at stage i is represented by the
number of laborers available at stage (week) i -
1, xi-1.
 Workforce size method

 The DP recursive equation is given as

 The computations start at stage n with xn = bn

and terminate at stage 1.
 Example-1: Workforce size method
A construction contractor estimates that the size of
the work force needed over the next 5 weeks to be
5, 7, 8, 4, and 6 workers, respectively. Excess labor
kept on the force will cost $300 per worker per
week, and new hiring in any week will incur a fixed
cost of $400 plus $200 per worker per week.

5, 7, 8, 4, 6
0 5 7 8 4 6
6 8 5
7 6
8
 Solution: Example-1
The data of the problem are summarized as
 5, 7, 8, 4, 6
0 5 7 8 4 6
6 8 5
7 6
8
 5, 7, 8, 4, 6
0 5 7 8 4 6
6 8 5
7 6
8
 Example-2:

A construction contractor estimates that the

size of the work force needed over the next 5
weeks to be 6, 5, 3, 6 and 8 workers,
respectively. Excess labor kept on the force will
cost $300 per worker per week, and new hiring
in any week will incur a fixed cost of $400 plus
$200 per worker per week.
 Solution: Example-2

b1=6, b2=5, b3=3, b4=6, b5=8

0 6 5 3 6 8
7 6 4 7
7 5 8
8
6
8
7
8
 Example-3:

A construction contractor estimates that the

size of the work force needed over the next 5
weeks to be 8, 4, 7, 8 and 2 workers,
respectively. Excess labor kept on the force will
cost $300 per worker per week, and new hiring
in any week will incur a fixed cost of $400 plus
$200 per worker per week.
 Solution: Example-2

b1=8, b2=4, b3=7, b4=8, b5=2

0 8 4 7 8 2
5 8
6
7
8
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