Study the following information carefully and answer the questions given below.

Eight employees—P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, and W—work in a corporate firm. Each of them holds a different designation: Managing Director (MD), Executive Director (ED), Director, Vice President (VP), Associate, Analyst, Senior Officer, and Officer, though not necessarily in that order. The hierarchical order of these designations is in decreasing order of seniority, where the Managing Director (MD) is the senior-most position and the Officer is the junior-most position.
There are exactly three designations between U and T, who is just junior to V. At most one person is junior to W. S is junior to Q and just senior to R. P is senior to both Q and U.

How many employees are senior to W?

The correct option is Seven.

Step-by-Step Explanation:

Let us arrange the designations in decreasing order of seniority (1 being the senior-most and 8 being the junior-most):

1. Managing Director (MD)
2. Executive Director (ED)
3. Director
4. Vice President (VP)
5. Associate
6. Analyst
7. Senior Officer
8. Officer

Step 1: Analyze the given conditions.

1. "At most one person is junior to W."
This means W can be either at position 7 (Senior Officer) or position 8 (Officer).

2. "There are exactly three designations between U and T, who is just junior to V."
This means V and T are adjacent (V is immediately above T: V, T), and there are 3 positions between U and T (either U _ _ _ T or T _ _ _ U).

3. "S is junior to Q and just senior to R."
This means S is immediately above R (S, R), and Q is somewhere senior to S (Q ... S, R).

4. "P is senior to both Q and U."
This means P is senior to Q, and since Q is senior to S and R, the order is P ... Q ... S, R. Also, P is senior to U.

Step 2: Determine the positions step-by-step.

Since P must be senior to Q, S, R, and U, P needs to be placed near the top. Also, Q must be above S, R.
Let us test the positions for U, V, T:

If U is at position 5 (Associate):
Then T must be at position 1 (MD) [since 3 designations between U and T]. But T is just junior to V, so T cannot be at position 1.

Therefore, T must be junior to U, or U must be lower down.
Let us check if U is at position 6 (Analyst):
3 designations between U and T means T could be at position 2 (ED). Then V would be at position 1 (MD).
Positions: 1-V, 2-T, 3-?, 4-?, 5-?, 6-U, 7-?, 8-?
Now we have P senior to Q, and Q senior to S, R (which are adjacent: S, R).
We also have W at position 7 or 8.
Remaining positions to place {P, Q, S, R, W}:
We need 4 positions for P, Q, S, R in order P > Q > S > R.
Available positions: 3, 4, 5, and 7/8.
Placing P = 3, Q = 4, S = 5, R = 7 (or 8):
If S = 5 and R = 7, they are not adjacent! (S and R must be adjacent: S, R).
So S and R must take adjacent available slots. The available contiguous slots are (3,4,5).
If S=4, R=5, then P=3. But then Q has no slot above S since P is at 3 and V, T are at 1, 2! So Q cannot be placed above S.
This combination fails.

Let's test U at position 2 (ED):
3 designations between U and T gives T at position 6 (Analyst).
Since T is just junior to V, V must be at position 5 (Associate).
Designations occupied so far:
2: U
5: V
6: T

Now P must be senior to U, so P must take position 1 (MD).
1: P
2: U

Remaining positions for Q, S, R, W are 3, 4, 7, 8.
Since S is just senior to R, S and R must occupy adjacent spots. The remaining spots are 3, 4 and 7, 8.
Since Q must be senior to S, Q must take position 3.
Then S and R take positions 4 and 7? No, 4 and 7 are not adjacent.
If Q takes position 3, then S and R cannot be adjacent at 4 because 4 is single.
Wait! If S and R take adjacent positions 3 and 4, then Q has no place senior to S (since positions 1 and 2 are P and U). So Q cannot be senior to S.
Thus U cannot be at position 2.

Let us test U at position 1 (MD):
P is senior to U, so U cannot be at position 1!

Let us test U at position 7 (Senior Officer):
3 designations between U and T gives T at position 3 (Director).
Then V is at position 2 (ED).
Positions filled: 2: V, 3: T, 7: U.
Since W is at position 7 or 8, and U is at 7, W must be at position 8 (Officer).
Now remaining positions for P, Q, S, R are 1, 4, 5, 6.
We know P is senior to Q, Q is senior to S, and S is just senior to R.
S and R must be adjacent, so S and R must occupy positions 5 and 6.
Then Q occupies position 4 (since Q > S).
Then P occupies position 1 (MD) (since P > Q and P > U).

Let's verify this complete arrangement:
1. MD - P
2. ED - V
3. Director - T
4. VP - Q
5. Associate - S
6. Analyst - R
7. Senior Officer - U
8. Officer - W

Check all conditions:
- Exactly 3 designations between U (7) and T (3): 4, 5, 6 (3 positions) - Correct!
- T (3) is just junior to V (2) - Correct!
- W (8) has at most one person junior to him (0 people junior to W) - Correct!
- S (5) is junior to Q (4) and just senior to R (6) - Correct!
- P (1) is senior to both Q (4) and U (7) - Correct!

Conclusion:
W is at position 8 (Officer), which is the junior-most position.
Therefore, all 7 other employees (P, V, T, Q, S, R, U) are senior to W.