Of the 12,210 employees of the anvil factory, 2/7 are journeymen. If half of the journeymen were laid off, what percentage of the total remaining employees would be journeymen?
Answers.
A) 14.3% B) 13.67% C) 33% D) 28.6% E) 49.67%
The exam gives us a number that is easily divisible by 7 to pique our curiosity and tempt us into calculating actual numbers (also because otherwise the ratio would be incorrect). Since the question is about percentages, the actual numbers will be meaningless, as only the ratio of that number versus others will be meaningful. Nonetheless, for those who are curious, each 1/7 portion represents (14210/7) 2,030 employees. This in turn means that 4,060 employees are journeymen and the remaining 10,150 are full time workers.   If half the journeymen were laid off, that would mean 1/7 of the total current workforce would be removed. This statistic is what leads many students to think that since half the journeymen are left, the remaining journeymen would represent half of what they used to be, which means 1/7 of the total workforce. If 1/7 of the workforce is journeymen, and 1/7 is roughly 14.3%, then answer choice A should be the right answer. In this case, though, it is merely the tempting trap answer choice.   What changed between the initial statement and the final tally? Well, you let go of 1/7 of the workforce, so the total number of workers went down. The remaining workers are still 1/7 of the initial workers, but the group has changed. The new workforce is smaller than the original group, specifically 6/7 of it because 1/7 was eliminated. The remaining workers now account for 1/7 out of 6/7 of the force, which if we multiply by 7 gives us 1 out of 6. This number as a percentage is answer choice B, 13.67%.   Using the absolute numbers we calculated before, there were 4,060 journeymen employees out of 14,210 total. If 2,030 of them are laid off, then there are 2,030 journeyman employees left, but now out of a total of (14,210-2,030) 12,180 employees. 2,030/12,180 is exactly 1/6, or 16.67%. The answer will work with either percentages or absolute numbers, but the percentage calculation will be significantly faster and applicable to any similar situation.   The underlying principle of percentages (and, on a related note, ratios) can be summed up in the brainteaser I like to ask my students: If you’re running a race and you overtake the 2nd place runner just before the end, what position do you end up in?   The correct answer is 2nd place.   Percentages, like ratios and other concepts of relative math, depend entirely on the context. Whether 100% more of something is better than 50% more of something else depends on the context much more than the percentages quoted. When it comes to percentages on the GMAT, the goal is to understand them enough to instinctively not fall into the traps laid out for you.   13.67%
<result>B</result>
Of the 12,210 employees of the anvil factory, 2/7 are journeymen. If half of the journeymen were laid off, what percentage of the total remaining employees would be journeymen?