The workforce of Company X is 60% female. The company hired 20

Question

The workforce of Company X is 60% female. The company hired 20 additional male workers, and as a result, the percent of female workers dropped to 55%.How many employees did the company have after hiring the additional male workers?

1.160
2.220
3.240
4.360
5.420

1.160
2.220
3.240
4.360
5.420

Harley1980 · Accepted Answer

Let's  x  be total quantity of employees

0.6x=females  before adding men
 0.55(x+20)=females  after adding men 
as quantity of women doesn't change we can make an equation:
 0.6x=0.55(x+20) 
 0.05x=11 
 x=220  - this is quantity of employees before adding  20  men
So after adding it wil be  240

Answer is C

EMPOWERgmatRichC · Answer

Hi Turkish,

This question can be solved by TESTing THE ANSWERS.

We're told that a company is comprised of 60% female employees. After hiring an ADDITIONAL 20 male employees, the company is then comprised of 55% female employees. We're asked for the TOTAL number of employees that the company had AFTER hiring the 20 additional male employees.

We need to start with the initial group of employees, which means that we have to SUBTRACT 20 from each of the answer choices before we start our calculations.

Let's TEST Answer B: 220

220 - 20 = 200 original employees
60%(200) = 120 females

After the 20 males were hired...
120/220 = 12/22 = 5/11 = .4545 = about 45.5% female
This is TOO SMALL. Eliminate B.

Let's TEST Answer D: 360

360 - 20 = 340 original employees
60%(340) = 204 females

After the 20 males were hired....
204/360 = 51/90 = 17/30 = 56.666 = 56 2/3% female
This is TOO BIG. Eliminate D.

Since Answer B is too SMALL and Answer D is too BIG, the correct answer MUST be between these two...

Final Answer:  C

GMAT assassins aren't born, they're made,
Rich

AjChakravarthy · Answer

Took 4 minutes to answer this just because I was confused what approach to take (percentage/ number plug in/ ratios)

Once you figure out that this is a ratio question, its pretty straightforward.

Initially:  
m + f = Total
m/f = 40/60 = 2/3 (Ratio 1)
 
 Later: 
m+20/ f = 45/55 = 9/11 (Ratio 2)

Plug Ratio 1 in to Ratio 2 we get:
(2m + 40)/ 3m = 9/11

simplifying this we get Total men = 108 and total women = 132

132 + 108 = 240 Answer C

Please note we are asked for m + 20 + f (the new total) and not just m + f (old total)

Regards, 
Aj

rohit8865 · Answer

Let toal no. of employees=x
No of female before hiring males=60x/100
after hiring total employees=x+20
no of females now=55(x+20)/100
As no. of females were same before and after hiring process so,
60x/100=55(x+20)/100
x=220
so after hiring 20 males=220+20=240
Ans C

adiagr · Answer

Let Total workforce is x. 
Females: 0.6x
Males: 0.4x

20 male workers are hired.

Total: x+20
Females: 0.6x
Males: 0.4x+20

\frac{0.6x}{x+20}  = 0.55

0.6x= 0.55x+11
0.05x = 11

x = 220

Company had x+20 employees that is 240 employees after hiring male workers. 
 C is the answer

NinetyFour · Answer

Got tricked by How many employees did the company have  after hiring the additional male workers ?

\frac{.6x}{x+20} = 0.55

Solve for x and we get 220. Add the additional 20 employees and we get 240

Mansoor50 · Answer

f/t --> 0,6
f/(t plus 20) --> 0.55

where t is the total workers

f --> 0.6t
f --> 0.55 x (t plus 20)

setting the 2 euqal, we get t as 220

and now i know why i got this wrong...i forgot to add the 20!!!!!

great question for careless readers like me!

bumpbot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club BumpBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The workforce of Company X is 60% female. The company hired 20

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Problem Solving (PS) Questions

The workforce of Company X is 60% female. The company hired 20

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards