The number of employees for a certain company has been decreasing each year by . If the company
currently has 820 employees and this rate continues, find the number of employees in 8 years.
The number of employees in 8 years will be approximately
(Round to the nearest whole number as needed.)

To find the number of employees in 8 years, we can use the formula for exponential decay:

where is the current number of employees (820), is the decay rate (0.02 for 2%), and is the number of years (8).

Plugging in the numbers:

Rounding to the nearest whole number, the number of employees in 8 years will be approximately 699.

Did you know that companies often use employee retention strategies to counteract such declines? Offering career development and fostering a positive workplace culture can significantly help maintain employee numbers. Companies may also opt for flexible working arrangements to appeal to a wider talent pool.

To avoid miscalculating projections like this, be cautious about confusing percentage decreases with the remaining percentage. A 2% decrease means you multiply by 98% (not simply subtracting 2 from the total). Always double-check your calculations to make sure you’re using the correct figures!