Order matters, because you can think of the n workers all lined up waiting to be assigned a type of work, and it certainly matters in what order you assign the types of work in. So we know to use permutations, not combinations. There are k = P(k,1) ways to assign a type of work to worker #1. For each of those k ways to assign a type of job to worker #1, there remain k-1 types of work to assign to worker #2. So there are k(k-1) = P(k,2) ways to assign a type of work to each of workers 1 and 2. For each of those k(k-1) = P(k,2) ways to assign a type of job to workers #1 and #2, there remain k-2 types of work to assign to worker 3. So there are k(k-1)(k-2) = P(k,3) ways to assign a type of work to each of workers 1, 2 and 3. ... So when we get down to n workers, we'll have k(k-1)(k-2)···[x-(n-1)] = P(k,n). That's the answer. Edwin