An office has 150 employees, and 30 of the employees work the night shift. What percentage of the employees work the night shift?
The correct answer and explanation is:
To find the percentage of employees working the night shift, use this formula: Percentage=(Number of night shift employeesTotal number of employees)×100\text{Percentage} = \left(\frac{\text{Number of night shift employees}}{\text{Total number of employees}}\right) \times 100
Given:
- Number of night shift employees = 30
- Total number of employees = 150
Plugging in the numbers: Percentage=(30150)×100=0.2×100=20%\text{Percentage} = \left(\frac{30}{150}\right) \times 100 = 0.2 \times 100 = 20\%
Answer: 20% of the employees work the night shift.
Explanation (300 words)
Calculating percentages is a fundamental math skill that helps express parts of a whole in terms of 100. In this scenario, the question asks: What percentage of the employees work the night shift?
You have two key pieces of information:
- Total employees = 150
- Night shift employees = 30
To find out what portion of the total workforce the night shift workers represent, you divide the number of night shift employees by the total employees. This division gives you a decimal representing the fraction of the workforce on the night shift: 30150=0.2\frac{30}{150} = 0.2
This decimal means that 20 out of every 100 employees work the night shift since 0.2 is equivalent to 20%. To convert this decimal to a percentage, multiply by 100: 0.2×100=20%0.2 \times 100 = 20\%
This conversion is standard when you want to express a fraction or decimal in percentage terms.
Understanding this percentage helps with workforce planning and analysis. For example, if a manager wants to know how many employees work nights compared to the whole company, knowing that 20% work nights informs staffing decisions, resource allocation, and shift scheduling. It also helps in understanding workload distribution or analyzing productivity during different shifts.
Percentages are widely used in business, education, and daily life because they provide an intuitive way to compare parts of different wholes or to communicate proportions clearly and simply. In this case, knowing that 20% of employees are night shift workers can also help with understanding employee needs, such as transportation options or shift-based benefits that might differ between day and night workers.
In summary, 20% of the employees work the night shift — a straightforward percentage calculated by dividing the number of night shift workers by the total number of employees and then multiplying by 100.