You have been told to reduce your department by 15%. Your department has 220 workers. There are 512 workers in the whole company. How many workers must be let go (round to the nearest worker)?
a) 0
b) 33
c) 77
The correct answer and explanation is:
The correct answer is c) 77.
To calculate how many workers need to be let go, first, determine 15% of the department’s current workforce. The department has 220 workers, so we need to calculate 15% of this number.
To do this, multiply the total number of workers by 15% (or 0.15): 220×0.15=33220 \times 0.15 = 33
This means that 33 workers need to be let go to achieve a 15% reduction in the department. However, the question asks to round to the nearest worker, and since 33 is already an integer, no rounding is necessary. Thus, the department must let go of 33 workers to reduce the workforce by 15%.
This type of calculation can be applied in other similar situations where you need to reduce a workforce or any other quantity by a specific percentage. The general approach is to multiply the total number by the percentage (in decimal form) and then round to the nearest whole number if required. In this case, 33 workers is the exact number that should be let go to meet the 15% reduction requirement.