Question 142630
let x=operators and y=laborers


"thirty people were hired" __ x+y=30 __ y=30-x


"the payroll was $3391" __ 136x+81y=3391


substituting __ 136x+81(30-x)=3391 __ distributing __136x+2430-81x=3391


subtracting 2430 __ 55x=961


x is NOT an integer value


since a partial person is not realistic, you might want to check the numbers in the problem