We have been given the sequence 2,3,5,9,17.
We can write the terms of this sequence as

From the above term we can see that for the first term we take exponent 0 on 2 and then add 1 .
For second term we take exponent 1 on 2 and then add 1 .
For third term we take exponent 2 on 2 and then add 1 .
Using this fact for the next term of the sequence i.e. 6th term, we can take exponent 5 on 2 and then add 1 .
Therefore, next term of the sequence is given by

Therefore, the next term is 33.
Using the above facts, the pattern is given by

For this case what you can do is factorize the <span>polynomial equation</span>, which would be left like follows
x ^ 3 + x ^ 2 + 9x + 9 = 0
(x + 1) (x ^ 2 + 9) = 0
Resolving, we have that the missing root is
x = -1
Answer
x=-1
2940/35 equals 84 so each employee will have to work 84 hours.