Calculate Net Pay Change for Q1 2023 Decreases
Company: Gusto
Role: Data Scientist
Category: Data Manipulation (SQL/Python)
Difficulty: Medium
Interview Round: Technical Screen
EMPLOYEES
+-------------+------------+-------+
| employee_id | hire_date | state |
+-------------+------------+-------+
| 101 | 2022-04-01 | CA |
| 102 | 2021-11-12 | NY |
| 103 | 2020-07-20 | TX |
+-------------+------------+-------+
PAYROLL_TRANSACTIONS
+----------------+-------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| transaction_id | employee_id | paid_at | gross_pay | deductions |
+----------------+-------------+------------+-----------+------------+
| 1 | 101 | 2023-01-15 | 5000 | 500 |
| 2 | 101 | 2023-02-15 | 5000 | 550 |
| 3 | 102 | 2023-01-15 | 4500 | 400 |
| 4 | 103 | 2023-01-15 | 6000 | 600 |
| 5 | 102 | 2023-02-15 | 4500 | 450 |
+----------------+-------------+------------+-----------+------------+
##### Scenario
Online SQL screen evaluating day-to-day data-manipulation skills on Gusto payroll data
##### Question
Write a SQL query that returns each employee’s total net pay (gross_pay – deductions) for the first calendar quarter of 2023. For every employee, show the percentage change in net pay between their two most recent pay periods and filter to those whose net pay decreased.
##### Hints
Window functions or self-joins can help with pay-period comparisons.
Quick Answer: This question evaluates a candidate's data-manipulation competency in SQL and Python, focusing on computing net pay, aggregating over a calendar quarter, and measuring percentage change between recent pay periods.