Let nos of male employees = x

nos of female employess =y

so acoording to question

.5x + .4y =.42(x+y)

i.e. x/y =1/4

so fraction of female employees = 4/5 (part-whole)

ans should be D

suppose there are x male and y female. We need to find y/(x+y)

(50x/100)+(40y/100) = 42(x+y)/100

Solve this equation to get
4x = y ----(1)
Add x to both sides
5x = x+y
Total no of employees = (x+y). => total no of employees = 5 times male employees.

From eq 1 we can get
y/x = 4

divide by 5 you get
y/5x = 4/5 ANS D

Thank you - you are correct. actually I was going to post the below and posted the anove in mistake.... can you also take a look?

In Town X, 64 percent of the population are employed, and 48 percent of the population
are employed males. What percent of the employed people in Town X are females?
A. 16%
B. 25%
C. 32%
D. 40%
E. 52%

B - 25%

Suppose the population is x

Empoyed people = 64x/100

Employed male = 48x/100

Employed Female = 64x/100 - 48x/100 = 16x/100

% Employed Female = (16x/100)*100/(64x/100) = 25%

thank you