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New York City From the history of the cityA A job for life Many people used to work for the same organization until they reached retirement: the age at which people retire, or end their working life. Career paths were clear: you could work your way up the career ladder, getting promotion to jobs that were more senior, with greater responsibility. You would probably not be demoted: moved to a less senior job. To leave the company, you could resign or hand in your notice.
B A job for now Modco has downsized and delayered. The number of management levels in the company hierarchy has been reduced from five to three, and many managers have lost their jobs. Modco has reorganized and restructured in order to become flatter (with fewer layers of management) and leaner (with fewer, more productive employees). They did this to reduce costs, and increase efficiency and profits. Employees said the company used words like 'restructure' to make the situation sound positive and acceptable.
C ln-house staff or freelancers? Modco has outsourced many jobs previously done by in-house personnel: outside companies clean the offices, transport goods and collect money from customers. This allows Modco to concentrate on its main business activities. Modco uses more freelancers, independent people who may work for several different companies, and they employ people for short periods on temporary contracts. Modco expects flexibility, with people moving to different jobs when necessary, but for many employees, this means job insecurity, the feeling that they may not be in their job for long. The way that they are doing their job is discussed at performance reviews: regular meetings with their manager. Note: You say freelancers or freelances.
D Losing your job If you do something wrong, you are ... ü dismissed ü fired ü sacked ü terminated If you've done nothing wrong, you are ... ü laid off ü made redundant ü offered early retirement Employees who are made redundant may get advice about finding another job, retraining, etc. This is called outplacement advice. Exercise 1 Complete the tables with forms of words from A, B and C opposite. You may wish to refer to a dictionary.
Exercise 2 Match the sentence beginnings (1-5) to the correct endings (a-e). The sentences all contain words from A and B opposite.
Exercise 3 Carla used to work for an Italian magazine publishing company. She talks about how she lost her job. Choose the correct form of the words in brackets to complete the text. Edizione Fenice is a big magazine publishing company, and a very nice company to work for. I was director of a magazine called Casa e Giardino. Then, Fenice was bought by an international publishing group. We had to have regular performance (1)……………… (review/reviews/reviewer) with one of the new managers. After a few months they started laying staff (2)…(off/on/out). Our own journalists were put on temporary (3)……. (contracts/contractual/contracting) or replaced by (4)…………………….. (freelancer/freelancers/freelanced). Then they started (5)……….(laid/lying/laying) off more senior people like me. The new owners said they wanted to make the company (6)………….. (flat/flatter/flatten) and (7)………….(lean/leant/leaner). So I was made (8)………….. (redundant/redundancies/redundancy). They offered to help me to find another job with (9)……….. (outplacement/outplaced/outplacing) advice, but I refused. Exercise 4 Discussion If you work ... Do you have performance reviews? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Has your organization been restructured? What aspects of the business does your company outsource? If you don't work ... Would you prefer a job for life or a more flexible career? Would you like regular performance reviews?
New York City From the history of the city It is known that the land was bought from the local Indians for 24 dollars. In 1607, the English navigator Captain Henry Hudson left Europe to search for the famous Northwest Passage. He didn’t find it, for the reason it didn’t exist, but he reached a river to which he gave his name. Interested by the stories told them by the captain on his return, the Dutch in sent other boats in 1624 to take possession of the land discovered by Hudson, Manhattan Island, and gave it the name “New Amsterdam” They erected a wall to protect their settlement from which Wall Street takes its name. On September 8, 1664, British troops occupied New Amsterdam without resistance, overthrew the Dutch government, and called the place “New York”. Seven years later the Dutch recaptured the city and called it “New Orange”, but in 1674 the city was in the hands of the British again who returned the name New York. A Unique City New York is the largest city and port in the USA. It is the industrial and cultural centre of the country. It is the financial and business centre. It is also the centre of the political life, the centre of mass media and the world’s biggest bank centre. New York is the economic capital of the USA. It is a great centre of fashion and arts. New York has a reputation for being ‘the city that never sleeps’. New York is inhabited by people of almost all nationalities and races. It is called ‘Modern Babylon’ and ‘The Big Apple’. The city offers enormous contrasts. Some of the most expensive homes in the world are in New York City, but on the pavements outside are poor people without a home. The City of New York is situated at the mouth of the Hudson River, sometimes called the North River, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. New York is carefully planned city and it is easy for a stranger to find his way there. The Americans have not given the New York streets names of their famous people, but have called them by ordinal numbers or letters of the alphabet: First Avenue, Second Street and so on. The five boroughs comprising the city are: Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens Brooklyn and Richmond.
Date: 2014-12-28; view: 1863
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