A Deloitte employment survey asked a sample of human resource executives how their company planned to change its workforce over the next 12 months. A categorical response variable showed three options: the company plans to hire and add to the number of employees, the company plans no change in the number of employees, or the company plans to lay off and reduce the number of employees. Another categorical variable indicated if the company was private or public. Sample data for 180 companies are summarized as follows. Company
Employment Plan Private Public
Add Employees 37 32
No Change 19 34
Lay Off Employees 16 42

Required:
a. Conduct a test of independence to determine if the employment plan for the next 12 months is independent of the type of company. At a .05 level of significance, what is your conclusion?
b. Discuss any differences in the employment plans for private and public companies over the next 12 months.