A company has been forced to reduce its number of employees. Today the company has 34% fewer employees than it did a year ago. If there are currently 363 employees, how many employees did the company have a year ago?

Solution

A co m p an y ha s b ee n f orce d t o re d u ce i t s n u mb er o f e m pl oyees . T o d a y t h e co m p an y ha s 34% f e w er e m pl oyees t han i t d i d a ye a r a g o . I f t h ere a re c u rre n tl y 363 e m pl oyees, h o w man y e m pl oyees d i d t h e co m p an y ha v e a ye a r a g o ?

Amount before reduction : 550

Solution steps

Translate the problem into an equation:

363 = x - 0.34 x

363 = x - 0.34 x : x = 550

Amount before reduction : 550