-- They're losing employees . . . so you know that the line will slope down, and
its slope is negative;

-- They're losing employees at a steady rate . . . so you know that the slope is
the same everywhere on the line; this tells you that the graph is a straight line.

I can see the function right now, but I'll show you how to go through the steps to
find the function. I need to point out that these are steps that you've gone through
many times, but now that the subject pops up in a real-world situation, suddenly
you're running around in circles with your hair on fire screaming "What do I do ?
Somebody give me the answer !".

Just take a look at what has already been handed to you:

0 months . . . 65 employees
1 month . . . . 62 employees
2 months . . . 59 employees

You know three points on the line !

(0, 65) , (1, 62) , and (2, 59) .

For the first point, 'x' happens to be zero, so immediately
you have your y-intercept ! ' b ' = 65 .

You can use any two of the points to find the slope of the line.
You will calculate that the slope is negative-3 . . . which you
might have realized as you read the story, looked at the numbers,
and saw that they are <u>firing 3 employees per month</u>.
("Losing" them doesn't quite capture the true spirit of what is happening.)

So your function ... call it ' W(n) ' . . . Workforce after 'n' months . . .

is <em>W(n) = 65 - 3n</em> .

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3 years ago