Question

The medium-sized company reported that it had to cut its work force back to 70% of what it was last year. if it has 100 workers now, how many did it have a year ago ?

Answer 1

A company reduced its workforce to 70% and currently has 100 workers. We calculate the original number of workers by setting up a proportion and solving for x in the equation 0.70x=100, getting approximately 143 workers.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question revolves around calculating the original number of workers in a company before a reduction to 70% of the workforce occurred. If the current workforce is 100 workers, which is 70% of the original, we can use a simple proportion to find the original number of workers.

To calculate the original workforce, we can set up the equation where 70% (or 0.70) of the original number of workers (which we will call x) equals 100 workers. The equation can be represented as 0.70x = 100.

To solve for x, we divide both sides by 0.70, giving us x = 100 / 0.70. The calculation results in approximately 142.86, which we round up to 143 workers as there cannot be a fraction of an employee. Therefore, the company had 143 workers a year ago before reducing its workforce.