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Файл:Английский язык. Учебное пособие по деловой коммуникации для студентов бакалавриата, обучающихся по направлению 38.03.01«Экономика», профили «Мировая
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READING II
1. Read the text and provide the message of it
A Workaholic Economy
Paul Walluh
For the fi rst century or so of the industrial revolution, in-
creased productivity led to decreases in working hours. Employees who had been putting in 12-hour days, six days a week,
found their time on the job shrinking to 10 hours daily, then fi nally
to eight hours, fi ve days a week. Only a generation ago social
planners worried about what people would do with all this newfound free time. In the US, at least it seems they need not have
bothered.
Although the output per hour of work has more than doubled
since 1945, leisure seems reserved largely for the unemployed
and underemployed. Those who work full-time spend as much
time on the job as they did at the end of World War II. In fact,
working hours have increased noticeably since 1970 — perhaps
because real wages have stagnated since that year. Bookstores
now abound with manuals describing how to manage time and
cope with stress.
There are several reasons for lost leisure. Since 1979, companies have responded to improvements in the business climate
by having employees work overtime rather than by hiring extra
personnel, says economist Juliet B. Schor of Harvard University. Indeed, the current economic recovery has gained a certain
amount of notoriety for its “jobless” nature: increased production
has been almost entirely decoupled from employment. Some
fi rms are even downsizing as their profi ts climb. “All things being
equal, we’d be better off spreading around the work,” observes
labour economist Ronald G. Ehrenberg of Cornell University.
Yet a host of factors pushes employers to hire fewer workers for more hours and at the same time compels workers to
spend more time on the job. Most of those incentives involve
what Ehrenberg calls the structure of compensation: quirks in
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the way salaries and benefi ts are organised that make it more
profi table to ask 40 employees to labour an extra hour each than
to hire one more worker to do the same 40-hour job.
Professional and managerial employees supply the most
obvious lesson along these lines. Once people are on salary,
their cost to a fi rm is the same whether they spend 35 hours a
week in the offi ce or 70. Diminishing returns may eventually set
in as overworked employees lose effi ciency or leave for more
arable pastures. But in the short run, the employer’s incentive is
clear. Even hourly employees receive benefi ts - such as pension
contributions and medical insurance - that are not tied to the
number of hours they work. Therefore, it is more profi table for
employers to work their existing employees harder.
For all that employees complain about long hours, they
too have reasons not to trade money for leisure. “People who
work reduced hours pay a huge penalty in career terms,” Schor
maintains. “It’s taken as a negative signal’ about their commitment to the fi rm.’ [Lotte] Bailyn [of Massachusetts Institute of
Technology] adds that many corporate managers fi nd it diffi cult
to measure the contribution of their underlings to a fi rm’s well-
being, so they use the number of hours worked as a proxy for
output. “Employees know this,” she says, and they adjust their
behaviour accordingly.
“Although the image of the good worker is the one whose
life belongs to the company,” Bailyn says, “it doesn’t fi t the facts.’
She cites both quantitative and qualitative studies that show increased productivity for part-time workers: they make better use
of the time they have and they are less likely to succumb to fatigue in stressful jobs. Companies that employ more workers for
less time also gain from the resulting redundancy, she asserts.
“The extra people can cover the contingencies that you know
are going to happen, such as when crises take people away
from the workplace.” Positive experiences with reduced hours
have begun to change the more-is-better culture at some companies, Schor reports.
Larger fi rms, in particular, appear to be more willing to ex-
periment with fl exible working arrangements...
142
It may take even more than changes in the fi nancial and cul-
tural structures of employment for workers successfully to trade
increased productivity and money for leisure time, Schor contends. She says the U.S. market for goods has become skewed
by the assumption of full-time, two-career households. Automobile makers no longer manufacture cheap models, and developers do not build the tiny bungalows that served the fi rst postwar
generation of home buyers. Not even the humblest household
object is made without a microprocessor. As Schor notes, the
situation is a curious inversion of the “appropriate technology”
vision that designers have had for developing countries: U.S.
goods are appropriate only for high incomes and long hours.
http://www.ielts-mentor.com/reading-sample/academicreading/29-ielts-academic-reading-sample-4
2. Are the following statements in reading passage 4
right, wrong or not given?
1. Today, employees are facing a reduction in working hours.
2. Social planners have been consulted about US employ-
ment fi gures.
3. Salaries have not risen signifi cantly since the 1970s.
4. The economic recovery created more jobs.
5. Bailyn’s research shows that part-time employees work
more effi ciently.
6. Increased leisure time would benefi t two-career house-
holds.
3. Choose the appropriate letters A-D
1. Bailyn argues that it is better for a company to employ
more workers because
A. it is easy to make excess staff redundant.
B. crises occur if you are under-staffed.
C. people are available to substitute for absent staff.
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D. they can project a positive image at work.
2. Schor thinks it will be diffi cult for workers in the US to re-
duce their working hours because
A. they would not be able to afford cars or homes.
B. employers are offering high incomes for long hours.
C. the future is dependent on technological advances.
D. they do not wish to return to the humble post-war
era.
4. The writer mentions a number of factors that have resulted, in employees working longer hours. Which FOUR of
the following factors are mentioned?
List of Factors
A Books are available to help employees cope with stress.
B Extra work is offered to existing employees.
C Increased production has led to joblessness.
D Benefi ts and hours spent on the job are not linked.
E Overworked employees require longer to do their work.
F Longer hours indicate a greater commitment to the fi rm.
G Managers estimate staff productivity in terms of hours
worked.
H Employees value a career more than a family.
5. Write the summary of the text.
6. Read the article below about the methods some companies are now using for recruitment. Choose the best word
to fi ll in the gap
The Scientifi c Approach to Recruitment
When it (1) ….. to selecting candidates through interview,
more often than not the decision is made within the fi rst fi ve
144
minutes of a meeting. Yet employers like to (2) ….. themselves
that they are being exceptionally thorough in their selection processes. In today’s competitive market place, the (3) ….. of staff
in many organizations is fundamental to the company’s success
and, as a result, recruiters use all means at their disposal to (4)
….. the best in the fi eld.
One method in particular that has (5) ….. in popularity is
testing, either psychometric testing, which attempts to defi ne
psychological characteristics, or ability/aptitude testing (6) …..
an organization with an extra way of establishing a candidate’s
suitability for a role. It (7) ….. companies to add value by identifying key elements of a position and then testing candidates to
ascertain their ability against those identifi ed elements.
The employment of psychometric or ability testing as one
(8) ….. of the recruitment process may have some merit, but
in reality there is no real (9) ….., scientifi c or otherwise, of the
potential future performance of any individual. The answer to
this problem is experience in interview techniques and strong
defi nition of the elements of each position to be (10) ….. as the
whole recruitment process is based on few real certainties, the
instinctive decisions that many employers make, based on a CT
and the fi rst fi ve minutes of a meeting, are probably no less valid
than any other tool employed in the (11) of recruitment.
1. A runs B goes C approaches D comes
2. A suggest B convince C advise D believe
3. A worth B credit C quality D distinction
4. A secure B relies C attain D achieve
5. A lifted B enlarged C expanded D risen
6. A provides B offers C contributes D gives
7. A lets B enables C agrees D admits
8. A portion B member C share D component
9. A extent B size C amount D measure
10. A occupied B met C fi lled D appointed
11. A business B topic C point D affair
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SPEAKING
1. Describe the job you would most like to have
You should say:
• what this job would be
• where you would work
• which qualifi cations you would need
• and explain why you would like to have this job most.
2. Discuss the following questions using active vocabu-
lary
1. Which jobs would you say are most respected in your
country?
2. Some people say it’s better to work for yourself than be
employed by a company. What’s your view?
3. Do you agree that some jobs are still more suited to either
men or women?
4. Do you think schools provide enough advice and support
to students about their future careers?
5. What changes in employment have there been in recent
years in your country?
6. Do you think more people will work from home in the fu-
ture?
3. Role play
Internal Audit, Risk and Compliance Services,
Assistant Managers
Job Title Internal Audit, Risk and Compliance
Services, Assistant Managers
Country United Kingdom
Location London
Function Advisory Risk Consulting
Service Line Internal Audit, Risk & Compliance
Services
146
Service Line
Information
In the UK, KPMG audits more listed
companies than any other professional
services fi rm. Our success and reputation
rests upon the quality and integrity of our
services - not to mention our people. Rest
assured; you will be working as a highly
valued member of our 3,000 strong UK
Audit practice.
Job Description We are currently looking for Accountants at
Assistant Manager level to join our thriving
Financial Services Audit department. You
will be part of a collaborative team in a
fast paced and challenging environment.
Divide into 2 groups: the employers or the job seekers.
A) Employers: get together and brainstorm questions to ask
for the interview, using the questions on the board.
B) Job Seekers: go over your character and fi nd their
strengths and weaknesses for the job, you cannot lie, you can
emphasize your strengths and you don’t also have to say your
weaknesses if you are not asked.
Students in the employer role really respond to this responsibility and take notes during their interviews. One by one the job
seekers are interviewed by the employers, asking any questions
that they want to. The job seeker is also permitted to ask questions if they can and want to.
After the interviews are fi nished, the employers are given
time to decide which job seeker gets the job. If time permits, they
are allowed to call any job seeker(s) they want back for a second
interview.
At the end, the employers pick one successful job seeker
with a brief explanation as to why that person was given the job
over the others.
147
RENDERING
1. Render into English using active vocabulary
Working age, R&D institute, Ministry of Labour, activity
increment, term of employment, age pattern, cohort,
respectively, relative growth, retirement age, with the
jurisdiction, current consumption, working career, the elderly,
outstripping growth rate
Безработице не дают развернуться опыт и стаж
Доля молодых в экономически активном населении про-
должает сокращаться.
Численность рабочей силы на российском рынке труда
остается стабильной, несмотря на снижение объема населения трудоспособного возраста, следует из данных НИИ
труда и социального страхования Минтруда. Стабильность
предложения труда — результат прироста экономической
активности
среди людей среднего и старшего возраста и
снижения в структуре населения доли молодежи, традиционно неактивной на рынке труда.
Сокращение численности трудоспособного населения, объем которого с 2011 по 2015 год упал на 5 % (или на
4,4 млн человек), пока мало повлияло на объем предложения на российском рынке труда. За тот же период
численность рабочей силы хотя и уменьшилась, но в десятикратно
меньшем объеме — на 0,5 %, а с 2014 по 2015 год (по среднегодовым значениям) в процентном выражении практически не изменилась. При этом уровень экономической активности населения в среднем за 2015 год достиг рекордных
значений за 15-летний период наблюдений — 69,1%.
Такая ситуация, по мнению
Галины Антоновой, главного специалиста отдела рынка труда НИИ, объясняется
действием демографических факторов, а именно динамикой изменений последних лет, происходящих в возрастной
структуре населения страны. «Высокий уровень предложения рабочей силы на национальном рынке труда обеспечи-
148
вают изменения в возрастной структуре населения в пользу лиц наиболее активных рабочих возрастов»,— отметила
она. В процессе смены поколений за период с 2012 по 2015
год когорта лиц молодого возраста (от 15 до 24 лет) потеряла в численности почти 17,5 %, или более 3,3 млн человек. В
результате их доля в составе всего населения заметно сни
зилась (с 13,4 % до 11 %). При этом снизился и уровень экономической активности этой группы населения. Если в 2010
году в когорте 15-19 лет он составлял 11,6 %, а в когорте 2024 лет — 65,5 %, то в 2015 году эти показатели составляли
соответственно 8,7 % и 58,2 %. «Снижение экономической
активности молодежи — следствие роста популярности образования»,— отмечает госпожа Антонова. Одновременно
был зафиксирован абсолютный
и относительный рост численности лиц наиболее активных рабочих возрастов (от 30
до 44 лет) — их удельный вес в составе населения увеличился более чем на 1% и составил на начало 2015 года 22,6
%. Экономическая активность этой группы населения составила 90-93 %.
Кроме того, существенная часть «молодых» пенсионеров не спешит покидать рынок труда, сохраняя экономиче
скую активность до пяти лет после наступления пенсионного
возраста, следует из данных, представленных подведомственным Минтруду НИИ труда и социального страхования.
Их численность в настоящее время оценивается свыше
4,5 млн человек — с 2011 года она выросла более чем на
6,5%. Экономическая активность этой группы населения за
последние пять лет возросла на 3 процентных
пункта — с
50,7 % в 2010 году до 53,8 % в 2015 году. В числе причин,
побуждающих пенсионеров работать, как ранее писал «Ъ»,
доминируют экономические мотивы, в первую очередь нехватка средств на текущее потребление (из-за нее продолжают трудовую деятельность 74 % этой категории; см. «Ъ»
от 13 марта).
При этом, по оценкам экспертов аналитического цен-
тра
при правительстве, доля пожилых в структуре населе-
ния РФ все равно растет опережающими темпами: если в
2006–2015 годах общая численность жителей России увели-
-
-
149
чилась на 2 %, то рост пожилого населения за тот же период
составил 20 % и достиг 24 % от объема всего населения. В
результате если в 2006 году на 1 тыс. человек трудоспособного возраста приходилось 326 человек старше трудоспособного возраста, то в 2015 году — уже 412 человек.
Анастасия Мануйлова
http://www.kommersant.ru/doc/3049016
2. Summarize the text.
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