Question

A retail store closed one of their departments and had to let go some of their employees. If the number of employees decreased by 15% to 68, what was the number of employees before the department closed?

Answer 1

To find the number of employees before the department closed, we can set up an equation using the 15% decrease and solve for the original number of employees. The original number of employees was approximately 80.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the number of employees before the department closed, we need to reverse the 15% decrease to find the original number of employees.

Let's call the original number of employees x.

First, we can set up the equation: x - 15% of x = 68.

Next, we need to convert 15% to a decimal by dividing it by 100: 15/100 = 0.15.

Using the equation, we have: x - 0.15x = 68.

Combining like terms, we get 0.85x = 68.

To isolate x, we divide both sides of the equation by 0.85: x = 68 / 0.85.

Using a calculator, we find that x ≈ 80.

Therefore, the original number of employees before the department closed was approximately 80.