Unit 13 employment

Lead-in

1. In your opinion, which factors below are important for getting a job? Choose the five most important. Is there anything missing from the list?

- age

- appearance

- contacts and connections

- experience

- handwriting

- hobbies

- marital status

- qualifications

- references

- blood group

- personality

2. Share your thoughts with the whole group on the following points.

1. Is employment a social issue or a political one? Explain your choice.

2. Do you believe that obtaining a good job today is easier or more difficult than in your parents’ day? Why?

Key Vocabulary

Study the following list of vocabulary.

1. full employment	полная занятость
2. part-time employment	неполная занятость
3. informal employment	неофициальная, неформальная занятость
4. job-sharing	разделённая ставка, деление рабочего места между несколькими работниками
5. teleworking n	дистанционная работа, выполнение рабочих функций в дистанционном режиме
6. employable citizen	трудоспособный гражданин
7. availability n	доступность, возможность использования
8. casual adj	нерегулярный, бессистемный
9. illegal activity	нелегальная, незаконная деятельность
10. employer n	наниматель, работодатель
11. coworker n	сослуживец, коллега, напарник
12. supervision n	контроль, наблюдение, управление
13. effective adj	эффективный, действенный, результативный
14. satisfaction n	удовлетворение, удовлетворённость
15. sense of security	чувство безопасности
16. pension scheme	пенсионный план, система пенсионного обеспечения
17. sick-pay scheme	система выплаты пособия по болезни
18. skill n	умение, навык
19. creativity n	творчество, креативность

Pre-reading Activities

Translate the sentences into Russian. Mind the list of Useful Vocabulary.

1. My employer is a very generous person; he gives us all a big present at Christmas.

2. If you wish me to attend an interview, I am available at any time.

3. My new job requires a lot of skills in the IT sphere.

4. Our boss invited us to participate in a job-sharing scheme.

5. The work of a software developer can be tiring, but it demands a lot of creativity and brings a lot of satisfaction and positive emotions.

6. Many professional persons get a large amount of job satisfaction and a high income.

Reading

1. Read the text and focus on types of employment and the main reasons for working.

When we speak about employment we usually mean paid work done by a person or a group of people. There are different types of employment nowadays.

The main goal of economy is full employment, which means availability of jobs for all employable citizens.

Nowadays a lot of people work part-time; they perform their professional duties during a part of the regular working time. There has been a huge rise in part-time jobs of all kinds, ranging from the unskilled office cleaners to the highly skilled computer consultants.

There is also job sharing. This is a practice of dividing a full time job between two people so that each works for half the time.

We can also mention informal employment, or paid work on a casual basis. Jobs are often irregular, and workers are self-employed without earning pensions and without paying taxes. This sort of employment is common in urban areas of developing countries. It may involve service jobs as well as craft industries.

With technological advances more and more people telework. It means working away from the employer’s office, often at home, but maintaining close contact with coworkers and managers using computers and IT. In some situations teleworking can increase an employee’s productivity; it also decreases the time they spend driving to and from work and at the same time decreases pollution from cars. But some managers feel uncomfortable with the lack of direct supervision they have over their teleworking employees, and some employees may dislike teleworking because of isolation from coworkers.

But why do people work? This question is important for business. The management of any business must try to understand why people work and provide the right motivation to make them work more effectively.

Of course, one of the main reasons for working is money. People work to get enough money to satisfy their basic needs. But money isn’t the only motivation.

Belonging to a group is also a strong motivation for working people. A sense of security is another human need for most people, that is why employers try to provide different pension and sick-pay schemes.

One more strong motivation for people is a sense of self-importance. To work efficiently, people want to feel their importance and necessity. Only in this case they will have job satisfaction – a sense that you are doing something you really want to do using all your skills and creativity.

Comprehension Check

1. Agree or disagree with these statements about the text.

1. There is one type of employment nowadays.

2. The main goal of economy is full employment.

3. Nowadays a lot of people perform their professional duties during a part of the regular working time.

4. Job-sharing is a practice of dividing a full time job between two people so that each works for half the time.

5. With technological advances few people telework.

6. Money is not one of the main reasons for working.

2. Choose the answer (A, B or C) which you think fits best according to the text.

1. How many types of employment are mentioned in the text?

A. 4 B. 5 C. 6

2. What reasons for working are mentioned in the text?

A. money, belonging to a group, a sense of security, a sense of self-importance

B. money, belonging to a group, a sense of winning, a sense of development

C. money, a sense of satisfaction, happiness, creativity

3. Complete the sentences using the information from the text.

1. Full employment means ….. .

2. Job-sharing is a practice of ….. .

3. The management of any business must try to understand ….. .

4. People work to get enough money to ….. .

5. Job satisfaction is a sense that ….. .