I think each contract was for 10 people working for 40 hours each per week. In effect buying 400 hours of expertise. That did not stop one of those 10 people doing 40 hours on one contract and another 10-20 hours on another. As long as both contracts were satisfied all was good.

By under resourcing the operation, employees were guaranteed to earn 'overtime' if they wanted it. However implication is that you would be happy putting in 50-60 hours.