Basis of Presentation (Policies)	6 Months Ended
Apr. 29, 2018
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Basis of Presentation The accompanying interim condensed consolidated financial statements of Volt Information Sciences, Inc. (“Volt” or the “Company”) have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles, consistent in all material respects with those applied in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 29, 2017. The Company makes estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported. Actual results could differ from those estimates and changes in estimates are reflected in the period in which they become known. Accounting for certain expenses, including income taxes, are based on full year assumptions, and the financial statements reflect all normal adjustments that, in the opinion of management, are necessary for fair presentation of the interim periods presented. The interim information is unaudited and is prepared pursuant to the rules and regulations of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), which provides for omission of certain information and footnote disclosures. This interim financial information should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended October 29, 2017. Certain reclassifications have been made to the prior year financial statements in order to conform to the current year’s presentation.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements	Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements New Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted by the Company In May 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting. This ASU provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting. An entity would not apply modification accounting if the fair value, vesting conditions, and classification of the awards are the same immediately before and after the modification. The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company does not anticipate a significant impact upon adoption based on the historical and current trend of the Company’s modifications for share-based awards but the impact could be affected by the types of modifications, if any, at that time. In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-05, Other Income - Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Non-financial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Non-financial Assets. This ASU clarifies the scope and application of Subtopic 610-20 on the sale or transfer of non-financial assets and in substance non-financial assets to non-customers, including partial sales. The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company does not anticipate a significant impact upon adoption. In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments: A Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. The amendments provide guidance on eight specific cash flow classification issues: debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, corporate and bank-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, beneficial interests in securitization transactions and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company does not anticipate a significant impact upon adoption. In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This ASU provides guidance for recognizing credit losses on financial instruments based on an estimate of current expected credit losses model. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Although the impact upon adoption will depend on the financial instruments held by the Company at that time, the Company does not anticipate a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements based on the instruments currently held and its historical trend of bad debt expense relating to trade accounts receivable. In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This ASU requires that lessees recognize assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms greater than twelve months in the statement of financial position and also requires improved disclosures to help users of financial statements better understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2020. The Company has preliminarily evaluated the impact of our pending adoption of ASU 2016-02 on our consolidated financial statements on a modified retrospective basis, and currently expects that most of our operating lease commitments will be subject to the new standard and recognized as operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets upon our adoption, which will increase the Company’s total assets and total liabilities that the Company reports relative to such amounts prior to adoption. In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The core principle of this amendment is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods and services. The FASB issued subsequent amendments to improve and clarify the implementation guidance of Topic 606. This standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. As we continue to perform our assessment, the Company still does not anticipate that the new guidance will have a material impact on our revenue recognition policies, practices or systems. We plan to use the modified retrospective method upon adoption and will evaluate any active contracts as of the adoption date to determine whether a cumulative adjustment is necessary. The adjustment would primarily relate to deferred revenue from contracts pending execution, if any. The guidance also requires additional quantitative and qualitative disclosures. As the Company continues to make progress in its evaluation of the impacts of our pending adoption of Topic 606, our preliminary assessments are subject to change. Management has evaluated other recently issued accounting pronouncements and does not believe that any of these pronouncements will have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures. Recently Adopted Accounting Standards In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. This ASU simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted this ASU in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. Upon adoption, the excess tax benefits and deficiencies are recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement in the reporting period incurred. The ASU transition guidance requires that this election be applied on a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the year of adoption, net of any valuation allowance required on the deferred tax assets. Because the Company has provided a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets, this adoption has no impact to the opening balance of total stockholder’s equity. The Company has elected to present the changes for excess tax benefits in the statement of cash flows prospectively and to account for forfeitures as they occur. There was no impact to the change in presentation in the statement of cash flows related to statutory tax withholding requirements since the Company has historically classified the cash paid for tax withholding as a financing activity. All other ASUs that became effective for Volt in the first half of fiscal 2018 were not applicable to the Company at this time and therefore did not have any impact during the period.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

New Accounting Standards Not Yet Adopted by the Company

In May 2017, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2017-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Scope of Modification Accounting. This ASU provides guidance on the types of changes to the terms or conditions of share-based payment awards to which an entity would be required to apply modification accounting. An entity would not apply modification accounting if the fair value, vesting conditions, and classification of the awards are the same immediately before and after the modification. The amendments are effective for annual periods beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company does not anticipate a significant impact upon adoption based on the historical and current trend of the Company’s modifications for share-based awards but the impact could be affected by the types of modifications, if any, at that time.

In February 2017, the FASB issued ASU 2017-05, Other Income - Gains and Losses from the Derecognition of Non-financial Assets (Subtopic 610-20): Clarifying the Scope of Asset Derecognition Guidance and Accounting for Partial Sales of Non-financial Assets. This ASU clarifies the scope and application of Subtopic 610-20 on the sale or transfer of non-financial assets and in substance non-financial assets to non-customers, including partial sales. The amendments are effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company does not anticipate a significant impact upon adoption.

In August 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-15, Statement of Cash Flows (Topic 230) - Classification of Certain Cash Receipts and Cash Payments: A Consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force. The amendments provide guidance on eight specific cash flow classification issues: debt prepayment or debt extinguishment costs, settlement of zero-coupon debt instruments or other debt instruments with coupon interest rates that are insignificant in relation to the effective interest rate of the borrowing, contingent consideration payments made after a business combination, proceeds from the settlement of insurance claims, corporate and bank-owned life insurance policies, distributions received from equity method investees, beneficial interests in securitization transactions and separately identifiable cash flows and application of the predominance principle. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. The Company does not anticipate a significant impact upon adoption.

In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): Measurement of Credit Losses on Financial Instruments. This ASU provides guidance for recognizing credit losses on financial instruments based on an estimate of current expected credit losses model. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2019, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2021. Although the impact upon adoption will depend on the financial instruments held by the Company at that time, the Company does not anticipate a significant impact on its consolidated financial statements based on the instruments currently held and its historical trend of bad debt expense relating to trade accounts receivable.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). This ASU requires that lessees recognize assets and liabilities for leases with lease terms greater than twelve months in the statement of financial position and also requires improved disclosures to help users of financial statements better understand the amount, timing and uncertainty of cash flows arising from leases. The amendments are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2018, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2020. The Company has preliminarily evaluated the impact of our pending adoption of ASU 2016-02 on our consolidated financial statements on a modified retrospective basis, and currently expects that most of our operating lease commitments will be subject to the new standard and recognized as operating lease liabilities and right-of-use assets upon our adoption, which will increase the Company’s total assets and total liabilities that the Company reports relative to such amounts prior to adoption.

In May 2014, the FASB issued ASU 2014-09, Revenue from Contracts with Customers (Topic 606). The core principle of this amendment is that an entity should recognize revenue to depict the transfer of promised goods or services to customers in an amount that reflects the consideration to which the entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods and services. The FASB issued subsequent amendments to improve and clarify the implementation guidance of Topic 606. This standard is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2017, which for the Company will be the first quarter of fiscal 2019. As we continue to perform our assessment, the Company still does not anticipate that the new guidance will have a material impact on our revenue recognition policies, practices or systems. We plan to use the modified retrospective method upon adoption and will evaluate any active contracts as of the adoption date to determine whether a cumulative adjustment is necessary. The adjustment would primarily relate to deferred revenue from contracts pending execution, if any. The guidance also requires additional quantitative and qualitative disclosures. As the Company continues to make progress in its evaluation of the impacts of our pending adoption of Topic 606, our preliminary assessments are subject to change.

Management has evaluated other recently issued accounting pronouncements and does not believe that any of these pronouncements will have a significant impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In March 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-09, Compensation - Stock Compensation (Topic 718): Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting. This ASU simplifies several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment transactions, including income tax consequences, classification of awards as either equity or liabilities, and classification on the statement of cash flows. The Company adopted this ASU in the first quarter of fiscal 2018. Upon adoption, the excess tax benefits and deficiencies are recognized as income tax expense or benefit in the income statement in the reporting period incurred. The ASU transition guidance requires that this election be applied on a modified retrospective basis through a cumulative-effect adjustment to retained earnings as of the beginning of the year of adoption, net of any valuation allowance required on the deferred tax assets. Because the Company has provided a full valuation allowance against its net deferred tax assets, this adoption has no impact to the opening balance of total stockholder’s equity. The Company has elected to present the changes for excess tax benefits in the statement of cash flows prospectively and to account for forfeitures as they occur. There was no impact to the change in presentation in the statement of cash flows related to statutory tax withholding requirements since the Company has historically classified the cash paid for tax withholding as a financing activity.

All other ASUs that became effective for Volt in the first half of fiscal 2018 were not applicable to the Company at this time and therefore did not have any impact during the period.