MBApyq

Light Chemicals employee distribution

XAT 2026 · Quantitative Ability & Data Interpretation · Hard · Data Interpretation

All XAT 2026 questionsMore Data Interpretation questionsAll XAT QADI

Passage / data set

Read the following scenario and answer the THREE questions that follow.

Light Chemicals is an industrial paint supplier with presence in three locations: Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The sunburst chart shows the distribution of the number of employees of different departments of Light Chemicals. There are four departments: Finance, IT, HR and Sales. The employees are deployed in four ranks: junior, mid, senior and executive. At every level, the number of employees at any location/department/rank/gender are proportional to the corresponding area of the region represented in the chart.

Due to some issues with the software, the data on junior female employees have gone missing. Notice that there are junior female employees in Mumbai HR, Sales and IT departments, Hyderabad HR department, and Bengaluru IT and Finance departments: the corresponding missing numbers are marked u,v,w,x,yu, v, w, x, y and zz in the diagram, respectively.

It is also known that: a) Light Chemicals has a total of 210 junior employees. b) Light Chemicals has a total of 146 employees in the IT department. c) Light Chemicals has a total of 77 employees in the Hyderabad office. d) In the Mumbai office, the number of junior female employees is 55.

Employee distribution

Question 1 of 3

Based on the given information and the sunburst chart, the MOST LIKELY values of u,vu, v and ww, respectively, are:

  1. A.

    30, 20, 5

  2. B.

    20, 25, 10

  3. C.

    20, 20, 15

  4. D.

    10, 40, 5

  5. E.

    25, 20, 10

Answer

B

Explanation

u,v,wu, v, w are junior female employees in Mumbai HR, Sales, and IT departments respectively. Total junior female employees in Mumbai =u+v+w=55= u + v + w = 55. Matching proportional areas from the chart gives u=20,v=25,w=10u = 20, v = 25, w = 10.

Question 2 of 3

Based on the given information and the sunburst chart, which of the following has the HIGHEST number of employees?

  1. A.

    IT department, all offices together

  2. B.

    Bengaluru office

  3. C.

    Sales department of Mumbai office

  4. D.

    Cannot be answered uniquely based on the given information

  5. E.

    Mid-level, all offices together

Answer

A

Explanation

Comparing the aggregate counts across departments and locations, IT department across all offices has 146 employees, which is the highest among the listed choices.

Question 3 of 3

Based on the given information and the sunburst chart, which of the following statements CANNOT BE TRUE?

  1. A.

    In the Hyderabad office, the number of senior employees is more than the number of junior employees.

  2. B.

    All three offices put together, the number of Sales employees is less than the number of Finance employees.

  3. C.

    In the Bengaluru office, the number of Finance employees is more than the number of IT employees.

  4. D.

    Number of female junior employees at Finance and IT departments in the Bengaluru office are equal.

  5. E.

    In the Mumbai office, the number of junior employees is more than the number of mid-level employees.

Answer

D

Explanation

Evaluating option D from the sunburst chart proportions shows that yy (Bengaluru IT junior female) and zz (Bengaluru Finance junior female) cannot be equal based on their angular segments.

Related Data Interpretation questions

Practise this under exam conditions

Sign in to solve it with a live timer, the on-screen CAT calculator, and streak and accuracy tracking across every question you attempt.

Solve in the workspace