GRE Argument Topic 79

NOTE: The above topic has wording similar to Argument Task 82 of this Website. However, if you read carefully you will notice that the task instructions are different. Hence, it is very important to read the topic as well as its instructions completely before you start to write your response.

Sample 1:

This argument is based on the recommendation made in a memo at the XYZ company that XYZ should continue to use Delany instead of Walsh as its personnel service for helping laid-off XYZ employees in finding new jobs. According to the speaker, last year XYZ employees using Delany services found jobs much more quickly than those who did not, and the average Delany client found a job in 6 months, compared to 9 months for the average Walsh client. The argument is based on many assumptions and there is no evidence given in support of these assumptions.

First of all, the author has said that laid-off employees have benefited greatly from Delany’s services. Those employees who used Delany found jobs much more quickly than those who did not. However, the author fails to mention the quality of jobs they got. More people finding jobs quickly does not reveal job satisfaction and salary. The author has not given any evidence in support of his assumption that the employees have greatly benefited from Delany’s services.

The next evidence cited by the author is comparison of Walsh personal Firm’s services with that of Delany’s on the basis of its placement rate eight years ago. Walsh’s prior rate of placing laid-off XYZ employees is not a reliable indicator of its performance at present. There might be some other factor like economic slow down, which is not under Walsh’s control behind the low placement rate 8 years ago. Moreover, the author cannot say with surety that at present Delany is better than Walsh based on eight years old records. The author has not provided any such data.

Further, the author claims that last year Delany’s clients took an average of six months to find jobs, whereas Walsh’s clients took nine months. However, he has not discussed about the price difference of Delany and Walsh. He has also not mentioned about the job satisfaction of the clients and the salary they got. Therefore, without considering and ruling out these factors, the author cannot conclude the argument.

In the last, the author commits a fallacy of ungrounded assumption. As per the author, Delany is superior as it has a bigger staff and many branch offices. However, he forgot to mention the efficiency of the staff. Although Delany has a big staff, the efficiency of the staff might be quite low. It is right that Delany has large number of branch offices, but locations of those offices are not mentioned. If these offices are located far from the center of the city, then they might not be good for finding good jobs. Hence, this point also does not justify the author’s recommendation.

In short, the author has made hasty conclusions. The memo’s author should have provided better evidence like from XYZ’s records, he could have got the data to prove that Delany’s services have consistently helped laid-off XYZ employees find jobs. Instead of comparing Walsh and Delany based on 8 years old records, the author should have provided better evidence.