Unit 2. The Job Market in Canada

Task 1. Match the following English words and phrases with their Russian

equivalents:

employer	непостоянный
to be reluctant	рабочие места
jobs	перемещать
unstable	пораженный
for fear	молодые дипломированные специалисты
to relocate	изменение
recession	постоянный
struck	предприниматель; работодатель
young graduates	гибкость
permanent	отказываться, делать с неохотой
shift	спад
flexibility	из опасения (из страха)

Task 2. Read the text and say what kind of non-standard employment appeals to you most.

The Job Market in Canada

Before the 1970s, most Canadians worked all their lives for the same employer.

They were reluctant to change jobs for fear of losing seniority and being seen as ‘unstable’. People with only a high school education could get stable well-paying jobs in the manufacturing sector (textiles, automobile industry, shipbuilding, etc.).

This situation changed in the 1970s, many manufacturing jobs were relocated to East Asia and Mexico, where wages were lower and labour standards less strict.

At the same time, the job market was flooded by the children of the ‘baby boom’.

In 1982, Canada was struck by a severe recession. Both the government and the major corporations were forced to lay off people, in general, younger people with less seniority. It became impossible for young graduates to find any permanent work.

For the people of this generation, there was a shift from the traditional lifetime job to different forms of non-standard employment:

part-timer: work less than 35 hours a week

on-call workers: work only when called in on short notice

freelancers: work independently for several clients

casual workers: do full-time contracts for a limited period (often 1 year)

telecommuters: work from home via the Internet

‘temp’ workers: do temporary work through a placement agency, often to replace who are sick, pregnant, on sabbaticals, etc.

This situation did not really change until the mid-1990s. By then, many people had become accustomed to non-standard employment and enjoyed the increased flexibility and independence. And many of them went on to create their own businesses. These people have become the new business class in Canada, often in the new high-tech industries (information technology, biotech, computer animation, robotics, multimedia, etc.).

Task 3. Answer the questions:

1. Why were most Canadians reluctant to change their jobs?

2. How and why did the situation change in the 1970s?

3. Who was the job market flooded by?

4. Who was in the most difficult situation after 1982?

5. When and how did this situation really change?

6. In what areas did the new business class start working?

Task 4. Match the following words from the text with their definitions from the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English:

1) part-timer	a) a person who works from home via the Internet
2) to commute	b) to take the place of
3) freelancer	c) the state of being independent
4) telecommuter	d) lasting for, designed to be used for a short time only; not permanent
5) to replace	e) to dismiss temporarily
6) accustomed	f) (of a woman or female animal) having in the uterus offspring in a stage of development before birth
7) independence	g) independent journalist, writer, etc earning his living by selling his services, wherever he can
8) temporary	h) to make somebody do something
9) pregnant	i) a person who works for only a part of the working day or week
10) to force	j) usual, habitual
11) to lay off	k) to travel regularly, e. g. by train or car, between one’s work in a town and one’s home in the country or suburbs

Task 5. Put the verbs in brackets into Past Simple (active). See Appendix 1.

1. They (lay off) workmen, because of a shortage of material.

2. Last week a number of customers (complain) about slow service.

3. James Sainsbury (set up) a dairy in 1869. The business (expand) and (diversify), and eventually (become) the largest chain of supermarkets in Britain.

4. She (not accept) the job because the salary was too low.

5. The workers in the factory (dislike) their working conditions.

6. He (not can) find a suitable job in his country, so he (go) abroad to look for work.

7. The first peaceful rocket use (be) in the 1950s when in October 1957 the Soviets (launch) their first satellite Sputnik 1.

Task 6. Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) with the correct endings (a-e).

1. Before the 1970s, most Canadians worked all their lives

2. This situation changed in the 1970s, many manufacturing jobs

3. It became impossible for young graduates to find

4. In the mid-1990s many people had become accustomed to non-standard employment and

5. These people have become the new business class

a) enjoyed the increased flexibility and independence.

b) any permanent work.

c) in Canada, often in the new high-tech industries.

d) for the same employer.

e) were relocated to East Asia and Mexico, where wages were lower and labour standards less strict.