Slack is certainly a factor and having contextually-aware competent people you can call at a moment’s notice is important. I would counter by saying the utilization rate is far below an equilibrium that people are capable of working at for sustained periods of time.
Overall, I expect that the answer is that under-utilization is not as extreme as indicated in the article, and that the value of the knowledge and skill sets of the under-utilized people is valuable enough to keep around.
In an R&D context, I would attribute a sizable amount of being “valuable enough to keep around” to (3) talent is finite and firms are paying everyone so someone doesn’t start or join a competitor.
Slack is certainly a factor and having contextually-aware competent people you can call at a moment’s notice is important. I would counter by saying the utilization rate is far below an equilibrium that people are capable of working at for sustained periods of time.
In an R&D context, I would attribute a sizable amount of being “valuable enough to keep around” to (3) talent is finite and firms are paying everyone so someone doesn’t start or join a competitor.