ZLC center controller reported the need to delay issuing IFR departure clearances due to the sector ...

Narrative:

There was not much of an incident with the aircraft; I only put it in because I had to include an aircraft and this guy was delayed in getting his IFR clearance by a few minutes.I was working sector 15 with no D side and when I asked if I could have a D side because I was red (alert numbers showed something around 23; I think red for the sector is 18) and I was told that we didn't have a D side. We had all 7 sectors open with no D sides and nobody on break. I think 17 and 4 were both red at the time as well. I went over 2 hours on this session; and I believe one or two other people did. I had to delay IFR clearances for two aircraft because I felt like I was just hanging on; so I delayed them about 5 minutes each. I was able to make it through with no issues; but this may not always be the case. What if I had any kind of emergency or if the weather caused deviations? I would not have been able to get the help I would have needed.I've filed multiple reports saying the same thing; staffing is ridiculous here at ZLC. We do not have enough people in area B for the amount of traffic we work. As a short term stopgap; our management refuses to call in overtime to get us up to staffing numbers. Drift is alive and well in all levels of management at ZLC. Management has decided that since it has worked sometimes to not staff to numbers; they will continue to do it. This is a huge issue in ATC; as we are taught to go by the book every time and just because something worked before; doesn't mean it will happen again. We had 9 people at work with 1 trainee and 1 supervisor. We are at least 1 person below numbers; often 2 or more; daily. Just look at area B's schedule. I will continue to file reports whenever I'm in a similar situation. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed; not just closed; put in a folder and labeled as closed.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZLC Center Controller reported the need to delay issuing IFR departure clearances due to the sector being overloaded with traffic with no Assist position open due to lack of staffing.

Narrative: There was not much of an incident with the aircraft; I only put it in because I had to include an aircraft and this guy was delayed in getting his IFR clearance by a few minutes.I was working sector 15 with no D side and when I asked if I could have a D side because I was red (alert numbers showed something around 23; I think red for the sector is 18) and I was told that we didn't have a D side. We had all 7 sectors open with no D sides and nobody on break. I think 17 and 4 were both red at the time as well. I went over 2 hours on this session; and I believe one or two other people did. I had to delay IFR clearances for two aircraft because I felt like I was just hanging on; so I delayed them about 5 minutes each. I was able to make it through with no issues; but this may not always be the case. What if I had any kind of emergency or if the weather caused deviations? I would not have been able to get the help I would have needed.I've filed multiple reports saying the same thing; staffing is ridiculous here at ZLC. We do not have enough people in Area B for the amount of traffic we work. As a short term stopgap; our management refuses to call in overtime to get us up to staffing numbers. Drift is alive and well in all levels of management at ZLC. Management has decided that since it has worked sometimes to not staff to numbers; they will continue to do it. This is a huge issue in ATC; as we are taught to go by the book every time and just because something worked before; doesn't mean it will happen again. We had 9 people at work with 1 trainee and 1 supervisor. We are at least 1 person below numbers; often 2 or more; daily. Just look at Area B's schedule. I will continue to file reports whenever I'm in a similar situation. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed; not just closed; put in a folder and labeled as closed.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1460665
Time
Date	201706
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZLC.ARTCC
State Reference	UT
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Global Express (BD700)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

ZLC center controller reported the need to delay issuing IFR departure clearances due to the sector being overloaded with traffic with no assist position open due to lack of staffing.