Changes in Employment

In recent years, there have been dra­matic changes in employment which have affected practically all members of the work force. The changes include the decline of traditional industries, such as coalmining, shipbuilding and steel-making, creating structural unemployment, technological unemployment among both manual and white-collar workers, owing to the increased use of computers and automation, organizational changes in big companies, which have reduced the size of firms and the number of managers, flexible working, which has replaced full-time jobs by a variety of part-time and temporary jobs.

Let us examine these changes - and their effects - in more detail. For the last 30 years or so, there has been a gradual decline in the traditional industries of shipbuilding, steel-making and coalmining, which were the basis of the first industrial revolution. Hundreds of thousands of miners, shipyard workers and steelworkers were made redundant. Structural unemployment affected^: mainly manual workers in the primary and secondary sectors. However, technological change, which was brought about by the increasing use of computers and automation, affected both manual and white-collar workers. During the 1980s and 1990s, many office workers and managers were made redundant as computers^: took over their jobs.

Increasing foreign competition, particularly from the Far East, forced many British companies to become more efficient by cutting costs. Companies did this by: downsizing, or dismissing employees, which increased productivity as the same amount of work was now done by a smaller number of employees, contracting out the work of whole sections or departments, such as publicity, to specialist firms which could do the work more cheaply, reducing the size of the company, by selling off unprofitable businesses.

Between 2000 and 2005, Britain's 100 biggest companies shed almost 400,000 jobs. ВТ got rid of the biggest number - 88,500 jobs. To save even more money, many big companies started to replace perma­nent full-time jobs by part-time temporary jobs. They retained a core of key workers with special skills. These employees have full-time jobs with reasonable job security and chances of promotion. However, the remaining employees, the flexible work force, are employed only when their labour is required. This reduces a company's salaries and wages bill, but adds greatly to the employees' feeling of insecurity.

There is a great range of flexible working, including:

Short-term contracts. Employees are given a short-term contract for a year or 18 months instead of a permanent job.

Part-time work. There has been a huge rise in part-time jobs of all kinds, ranging from the unskilled office cleaner's to the highly skilled computer consultant's. They have increased four and a half times, to over 6 million, in the last 10 years.

Temporary work. At one time, tempo­rary workers were used mainly to cover for permanent employees who were ill or on holiday. That has changed. In some big companies, up to 10 per cent of the work force are temporary workers. This cuts a company's costs as 'temps' are employed only if there is a special job to be done.

Teleworking. There has been an increase in teleworking, or working at home using computers and infor­mation technology to maintain contact with company headquar­ters. About 6 per cent of firms use teleworking extensively.

Some progressive employers look after their employees better by providing flexible hours instead of flexible work. This gives employees more choice about when they work, which is particularly useful for working mothers. There are vari­ous forms of flexible hours, including:

Flexitime or flexible working hours. Employees work an agreed number of hours of core-time each day, but may choose when they work the rest of their hours.

Four-day week. By working longer hours, employees do five days' work in four days and have the other three days off. Term-time working. Parents (usually mothers) work full-time during the school terms, but have unpaid leave during the school holidays so that they can look after their children.

Job sharing. Two people share the same job and split the salary between them. One might work in the morning and the other in the afternoon or they might work alter­nate weeks.

Career breaks. An employee is allowed to take unpaid leave for a year or more and can return to the same, or a similar, job at the end of the break. This is useful for women who have to look after children or relatives; for study; or for employ­ees who want a refreshing break.

1. Describe flexible working in your own words.

2. How do flexible hours benefit employees?

3. What has caused a large-scale redundancy?

Language

1. Practise reading the following words correctly. If necessary, use the dictionary.

Affiliation, supervisor, employee, flexible, scheme, incremental, nonmanual, advertisement, objective, semiskilled, redundant, flexitime, teleworking, technique, unemployment, picketing, bargaining, induction, redundant.

2. Give the Russian equivalents to the following words and word-combinations.

Clerical work, cushy job, full-time job, part-time job, flexible working hours, job-sharing, nine-to-five job, odd job, hour job, discrimination, employment discrimination, wage discrimination, career, strike, strike ballot, labour union, picket, fringe benefits, unemployment benefit, to eliminate unemployment, dole, lay off, scrounger, freelancer, commuter, teleworking, to give the sack.

3. Read the following sentences and explain the meaning of the underlined words.

1. Anyone who works for a company is part of the personnel of that company. 2. A staff department is a department of a company that provides a service to the managers. A staff department is not directly involved with production. 3. Recruiting refers to finding new employees or managers for the company. 4. When workers retire or quit, the personnel department must recruit new workers to fill the vacancies. 5. A company recruits internally if it wishes to fill vacancies by transferring or promoting current employees. 6. External recruitment means that a company is seeking new em­ployees from outside the firm. 7. When an employee is promoted, he receives a position with more authority and responsibility, and usually an increase in salary. 8. The worker was transferred from one department to the other.9. Fringe benefits include paid vacation, medical insurance, and employer contributions to a pension plan. Fringe benefits are what the employee receives in addition to his wages. 10. There is a grievance procedure for handling complaints when an employee feels he has been treated unfairly.

4. Match the words on the left with the expressions on the right.

1. promote 2. vacancy 3.retire 4.external 5. recruitment 6. fringe benefits 7. grievance 8. staff departments

a. complaint of unfair treatment b. paid sick leave, for example c. job opening . d. seeking new employees . e. accounting, for example f. outside g. to assign a more important job h. to stop working after a certain age

5. Write out the suffixes indicating different parts of speech in the following words.

Verb	Noun	Adjective
qualify promote employ	qualification promotion employer employee employment	qualified promotional employable
determine apply describe base compete authorize	determination application applicant authority description basis competitor competition	determining authorized applicable descriptive basic competing
recruit require staff	recruit recruitment staff requirement	staff required

6. Identify the part of speech of the missing words. Supply the correct form of the word.

Authorize	1. His new job has more … and responsibility. He is now … to sign cheques.
Applicant	2. People who wish to … the position should fill out an … for the personnel department. … chosen for interviews will be notified by mail.
Promote	3. The personnel department is giving a … examination to see which of the current employees will be … to the position.
Descriptive	4. The job … states the job title. It also … all the duties as well as the requirements for employment.
Basic	5. The interviewer will … his decision on the applicant’s personality and qualifications.
Competitor	6. they hired the new manager from a … company.
Determine	7. A ... will be made based on the experience of the applicants.
Require	8. Does the applicant have the … skills, Does he meet all the other …?
Qualification	9. Are you … for his job? Fill out an application … applicants will be contacted for an interview.
Recruit	10. This company has a policy of internal … .We always try to fill managerial positions with current employees.

7. Match the terms on the left with their meanings on the right.

Appraisal Autonomy Burnout Bureaucracy Homeworking Pay Perks Personnel

Assessment Breakdown Fringe benefits Human resources Independence Red tape Remuneration Telecommuting

8. Complete each sentence with the correct form of the word in bold type.

Sometimes you will need to use a negative form using a prefix (un-, dis-, de-).

satisfy

a) Women are more ... with their jobs than men in many countries.

b) Low pay and poor working conditions create ... workers.

c) Small European countries are at the top of job... league tables.

motivate

a) What are the strongest ... factors in people's lives?

b) Workers become ... if they work long hours for low pay.

c) What was your ... for becoming a salesperson?

fulfil

a) Becoming Department Head was the ... of a lifelong ambition.

b) He ... his role as manager very effectively.

c) I feel ... in my job because I am not given enough responsibility.

inspire

a) Jack Welch was an ... business leader who motivated employees.

b) He has been an ... to the new members of staff.

c) After an ... launch, the new model quickly failed.

frustrate

a) You could see the ... building up in the workforce.

b) I find talking to him ... because he never listens to anything I say.

c) I felt so ... with their attitude that I decided to resign.

9. Write a single word synonym for each of these words/phrases.

1 given the sack = … .

2 out of work = … .

3 left the company = … .

4 was given a better position in the company = ... .

5 future possibilities in a job = ... .

6 stopped working for ever = ... .

7 workers in a company = ... .

10. Find the logical answer on the right for each of the questions on the left.

1 Why did they sack him? 2 Why did they promote him? 3 Why did he apply for the job? 4 Why did he retire? 5 Why did he resign? 6 Why did he go on the course?

a because he was nearly 65. b because he was late for work every day. с because he needed more training. d because he was out of work. e because he was the best person in the department. f because he didn't like his boss.

11. A. Complete the extract below with passive forms of the verbs in brackets.

Several surveys ... (conduct) recently concerning the relationship between work and play. According to psychologists, activities are more likely to ... (perceive) as play - and therefore attractive - rather than work - and therefore unattractive-if they ... (enter) into voluntarily. In one experiment, for example, volunteers ... (give) a problem-solving game to perform: some ... (pay) to perform the game and some were not. Those who ... (pay) spent less free time performing than those for whom the only motivation was the pleasure of the game. Thus, motivation to play springs from within and the readiness to perform activities ... (reduce) by external rewards.

B. Like the passive, the expression has ∕get something done focuses on what happens and not on the doer of the action.

A: Is the photocopier working?

B: Yes. We had it mended yesterday. (It doesn't matter who did it)

Complete the exchanges below with the expression have /get something done.

1 A: This office looks rather shabby, doesn't it? B: I know. We're going to ........................................................................................................................

2 A: What a dazzling speech! B: Yeah. I'm sure he.......................................

………………………………………………………………………………

3 A: The video's on the blink again. B: We definitely need to ......................

………………………………………………………………………………

4 A: Our fire alarm seems to have a will of its own, doesn't it? B: Yes. I think we should ........................................................................................................................

5 A: I'm not sure the figures in this report are right……………………........

B: Well, why don't you .................................................................................. .

C. Make up 3-5 sentences of your own according to the above pattern.

12. Look at the following sentences and write questions using the passive form. The first one has been done for you.

1. Pantel's takeover of Riesmann will be cleared by the European Commission in April. (Who by)

Who will the takeover be cleared by?

2. In 1999 £800 of computer games were sold in Britain. (When)

3. Those computer games are manufactured under license in Japan. (Where)

4. Over 600 people were made redundant last year. (How many)

5. Future success will be driven by developing a sales force capable of challenging the status quo. (How)

6. The new team will be employed for a minimum contract period of ten months. (How long)

7. Effective leadership is endlessly discussed in management circles. (What)

8. A coercive style of leadership could be used during an emergency, for instance. (When)

9. The next meeting has been scheduled for the end of March. (When)

10. The interim report was written by Ms Eadie. (Who)

13. Choose the best word from the brackets to fill the gap. The first one is an example.

1. We need to …recruit... four new people for our office in Manchester, (join/recruit) 2. We are using a recruitment ... to find them for us. (agency/headhunter) 3. They advertised the ... in the local newspaper last week. (positions/applicants) 4. So far, over 60 people have applied for the ... . (works/posts) 5. We are going to look at all the letters of ... . over the weekend. (application/situation). 6. On Monday, we will draw up a ... of 10 or 11 people, (reference/shortlist) 7. Then we'll invite them all to come for an ... . (interview/appointment) 8. We hope to ... the successful applicants by the end of the month, (apply/appoint) 9. We have 200 people on our ... . (recruitment/business/payroll) 10. Our ... department is responsible for recruitment, (personnel/employee/worker) 11. Our main office is in London but we have ... all over the country. (places/companies/sites) 12. I supervise all the ... workers on the production line. (manual/white-collar/labour) 13. I am in charge of training in the human ... department, (support/resources/staff) 14.We have a ... of 65 in London and about 30 in Paris, (staff/union/headquarters) 15. You haven't been paid this month? OK, I'll put you through to the ... department.(pay/salary/finance) 16. I work in a small hotel in Amsterdam. I … € 8 an hour. (earn/paid) 17. It’s not a lot, but it’s more than the … wage. (maximum/minimum) 18. Some customers leave me … and that is a great help. (perks/tips) 19. My sister works in a bank and her … is € 3,000 a month. (bonus/benefits) 20. Next year she thinks she will get a … car. (company/business) 21. When she is 55 she will be able to give up work and live on her … (package/pension)

14. Complete the sentences with the correct form of the verb given. Use verb + -ing or Infinitive. The first two are the examples.

1. As we don’t’ agree about politics we generally avoid discussing (discuss) the subject. 2. He doesn't get on with the new boss, so he's asked to be transferred (transfer) to another branch of the company. 3. Please stop … (interrupt) me when I'm explaining something to you. You can ask questions at the end. 4. We had arranged ... (meet) in my office so that he could check the documents he needed. 5. I must say I don't really fancy ... (spend) my whole holiday with your cousins. 6. He admits ... (enter) the house but he says he didn't take anything. 7. I've apologized to her but she still refuses … (speak) to me. 8. What a dreadful man! Can you imagine … (live) with him? 9. Of course I'll help you, as long as it doesn't involve … (lift) anything heavy. 10. Oh no! I’ve forgotten … (bring) my briefcase with me. I'll have to go back for it. 11.They had hoped ... (live) in their new house by now, but the builders are still working on it. 12. I don’t mind … (work) late, if it will help at all. 13. I simply can't afford ... . Support you any longer – you ‘ll just have to find a job. 14. We had hoped to finish the project by the end of the month but we keep ... (delay) by changes in the plans. 15. You'd better go and see the boss and say what you've done. If yon put off … (explain) it to her, she'll only be more annoyed.

15. Complete the sentences by putting one of the words or phrases given below in each space.

Teleworking freelance flexitime job sharing shifts short-term contract

1. John's company demands that he is in the office between 10.00 and 15.00 but he can start earlier than that and finish later than that as long as he works 40 hours per week. He is working … . 2. This is the worst week of the month for Mary because this week she's working nights. Next week is the best, because then she'll be at home when her daughter comes in from school. She's working … . 3. Pat works for a large insurance firm but he only goes to their office one day a week. For the other four he works at home and keeps in touch by e-mail, fax and phone. He's … . 4. Peter is a journalist He writes for a variety of papers. This week it's the Financial Times, last week it was the Wall Street Journal. He decides how much work he does and when he works and completes his own accounts for tax purposes. He's working … . 5. Heidi is working at a food processing plant in Germany. She's worked there for two months, and her job finishes at the end of this month. She hopes the company will renew her contract for another three months. She's working on a … . 6. Mary and Jane are both receptionists for a PR firm. Mary works there on Monday and Tuesday, Jane then takes over for the rest of the week. They are …

16. Decide which word suits best each space. Choosing a job

One of the most difficult decisions is choosing what to do for a (1) … . For example, do you want to follow a definite (2) … and(3) … a low (4) … at the beginning, but have good (5) … in a company that trains its (6) …? Or are you more interested in taking any kind of work, because you need a/an (7) … ? You may have to (8) ... the feet that a good (9) … can be difficult to find. In that case, why not take a (10) … one? You will gain some useful (11) … Remember that even if you have the right (12) … you may have to (13) ... lots of application forms before you are asked to (14) … an interview. But don't worry if you don't know what you want to (15) … exactly. You'll enjoy finding out!

1. A)salary 2. A)company 3. A)earn 4. A)money 5. A)hopes 6. A)employers 7. A)money 8. A)face up to 9. A)work 10. A)temporary 11. A)experiences 12. A)qualifications 13. A)fall through 14. A)be 15. A)work

B)living B)training B)gain B)profit B)prospects B)crew B)cash B)go over B)labour B)overtime B)experienced B)exams B)get on B)attend B)job

C)employee C)business C)win C)cheque C)futures C)staff C)account C)come up with C)job C)profitable C)experience C)letters C)turn down C)make C)do

D)work D)career D)take D)salary D)promotions D)persons D)income D)call off D)seat D)short D)experiencing D)degrees D)fill in D)advertise D)employ

17. Render in English (50-100 words)

A. В США безработица осталась на отметке 5%

Уровень безработицы в США в текущем году не изменился по сравнению с предыдущим и составил 5%, согласно информации Министерства труда США.

По сравнению с прошлым годом безработица уменьшилась на 0,5 процентных пункта. Официальное количество безработных в стране по сравнению с предыдущим годом не изменилось и составляет 7,5 млн. человек.

Число американцев, занятых в сфере услуг, увеличилось в этом году на 203 тыс. человек, в производстве - на 4 тыс. В отчете также отмечается, что безработица среди афроамериканцев по итогам года упала с 10,3% до 9,5%, среди латиноамериканцев этот показатель снизился с 5,8% до 5,5%. Безработицы среди мужчин осталась на отметке 4,3%, среди женщин - выросла с 4,6% до 4,7%.

B. Безработица сокращается, занятость растет

Согласно последнему отчету министерства труда, уровень занятости поднялся незначительно, что свидетельствует о медленном восстановлении рынка труда после разрушений, вызванных на Мексиканском побережье ураганом «Катрина». В то же время потеря рабочих мест, по пересмотренным данным, составила всего 8000, что существенно меньше 35 тыс., о которых сообщалось в предварительном отчете. Несмотря на снижение занятости – первом за последние два года, — уровень безработицы в октябре упал до 5 процентов (ранее он составляя 5,1 процента). Увеличение числа рабочих мест на 56 тыс. разочаровало экономистов, предсказывавших показатель почти вдвое больший – 100 тысяч. Еще одно разочарование: согласно пересмотренным данным, увеличение числа рабочих мест составило 148 тыс., а не 211 тыс., как сообщалось ранее. Барометр инфляции также набирает силу. Средний часовой вырос на 0,5 процента и составил 16,27 доллара (экономисты предсказывали рост на 0,2 процента). Такой быстрый рост вызывает у экономистов серьезные опасения по поводу темпов инфляции, которую Федеральный резерв (ФР) пытается сдержать за счет очередного повышения учетной ставки. Ожидается, что такой политики правительство будет придерживаться и в дальнейшем.

Speaking

1. Which of the following would motivate you to work harder? Choose your top five and rank them in order of priority. Which ones have you experienced?

Bonus Bigger salary Commission Praise

More responsibility Threat of redundancy Hard-working boss Good colleagues

Working for a successful company A better working environment Promotion opportunities Perks or fringe benefits

2. Give a number of benefits provided by companies. Which of the following do you think can be provided in Belarus?

childcare company holiday cosmetic surgery sushi counseling dance classes guitar lessons haircuts masseurs tennis lessons

3. Which of the following statements seem to you to be generally true? Why?

1. People dislike work and avoid it if they can. 2. Work is necessary to people's psychological well-being. 3. People avoid responsibility and would rather be told what to do. 4. People are motivated mainly by money. 5. Most people are far more creative and ingenious than their employers realize. 6. People are motivated by anxiety about their security. 7. People want to be interested in their work and, given die right conditions, they will enjoy it. 8. Under the right conditions, most people will accept responsibility and want to realize their own potential.

4. Working in pairs or in small groups, discuss the following questions:

1. A recent US survey showed children preferred parents to go out and earn money rather than spend more time with them. What does this show, in your opinion? 2.Would you prefer a male or female boss? Why? 3. For what reasons might you change jobs? How often would you expect to do so in your lifetime? 4. How much should companies be involved in the lives of their employees? 5. How can businesses help to improve the balance between employees` working and leisure hours? 6. To what extent do you judge someone by their job title? 7. Which would motivate you more: a pay rise or a better job title? Why? 8. Why might job titles cause problems among staff?

5. Discuss what you would do and say in these difficult situations:

1. Your colleague applied for a promotion but didn`t get it. 2. You borrowed a colleague’s mobile phone but now it`s stopped working. 3. You invite a client for a meal and they ask if they can bring a friend. You see this as a business rather than a social occasion. 4. You`re staying at a hotel that your host is paying for. It is uncomfortable and you want to move. You host asks, ‘How do you like the hotel?’

6. Describe the most common methods that companies use to recruit people in your country.

1. How do companies ‘fire’ people? Is it easy for companies to do so or do employees have rights in that situation? 2. How powerful are trade unions in your country? Are strikes common? 3. What types of discrimination exist in your country? On the grounds of sex, ethnic group, age, disability? Are these laws against discrimination? How effective are they? 4. What factors do you think motivate employees? 5.Remuneration such as bonuses, perks, share options, performance related pay? Or empowerment through, for example, increased responsibility, the freedom to work flexibility, the chance to update and widen skills? Or are there other factors which motivate?

Writing

1. Write a short account (about 200 words) of the factors that have been or will be important for you in your choice of a job.

2. Write an advertisement for any job which will convince applicants that it really would provide equal opportunities for both men and women.

3. Comment on the following statement (150-200 words):

“It is not real work unless you would rather be doing something else.” Sir James Barrie (1860-1937), Scottish dramatist and novelist