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Depends on the firm. I work in a non-prestigious boutique. 65% -75% department utilization is quite normal for us. We hover around 72% utilization firm wide year over year and still have year-end bonus and promotion cycles as usual. 65% is not a reason to panic just yet as the firm is likely still profitable and stable.
If it drops to 60% or below Partners start breathing down the Director’s necks to sell more. At 80%, they tend to be more selective about the projects we take on because we have oversold departments before and been unable to staff or deliver them.
If you are at Big 4, MBB, RSM, Grant Thorton or BDO. I would be panicking. Layoffs are definitely coming. It is quite normal for those firms to have departments hovering around 85-95% utilization. 65% would be a red flag something is going wrong in the department
Are managers pseudo utilized though?