The Changing Workplace

Vince is a manager for a large electronics company. At least twice a week, he works from his Ohio home on a computer that is linked to his office. Through this computer, he can be in immediate, regular con­tact with his work team and with his company bosses. Vince is a part-time telecommuter. That is, he works from home for part of his week, avoiding the need to commute in the usual way - by car or public transportation. Vince is connected with his workplace through tech­nology - computers, fax machines, and phone systems. There are many others like Vince in the United States today. Some are full-time telecom­muters, working from home every day of the week. Vince and his team are typical of the workplace of today in other ways, too. Vince says, "We have to attend a lot of training sessionsto keep up with new tech­nology. We work in teams and manage our work activities ourselves rather than depend on a boss to tell us what to do."

The workplace of the United States and of other developed coun­tries all over the world is changing. Technology has played a large part in this process, but there are also other factors at work. For one thing, there has been a change in the work ethic, or attitude toward work. Until recently, most people believed that a person who was supporting a family had a responsibility to choose a job that paid the most, rather than the one that was more satisfying for him or her. Many people worked hard to support their families, not thinking about how unpleas­ant or boring their work was. Today a majority reject this attitude. Most people are interested in jobs that allow for personal growth and that will give them some satisfaction or even enjoyment.

How has this new work ethic come about? One reason is that the number of white-collar workers has increased substantially over the last few decades. Another is the increase in the average level of workers' education. In farming and manufacturing, new machines have dramatically decreased the number of people needed to produce things. Before 1945, there were far more blue-collarworkers than white-col­lar workers, but since this time, the white-collar segment has grown rapidly. Now there are approximately three times as many white-collar workers (professionals, office workers, and salespeople) as blue-collar workers in most manufacturing companies. It is these white-collar and better-educated workers who value jobs that are satisfying and that give them the chance to develop themselves personally.

This change in attitude toward work has led, in turn, to changes in the workplace. Employers are increasingly offering their workers jobs and working conditions that will keep them happy: more interesting and varied tasks; more opportunities for self-direction; more flexible hours to make it easier to combine work and family life; increased participation in decision making; and, in some cases, a share in the profits of the company.

Other changes in work opportunities include changes in the types of industries where people are most likely to find work. While there has been a decrease in jobs in manufacturing and other industries that pro­duce goods,there has been an increase in jobs in industries that provide services- for example, education, health care, banking, entertainment, and leisure.

So what changes can we expect in the future? In very recent years, some economic experts have been predicting a world where just 20 per­cent of the population will have jobs. They believe that this will be sufficient to keep the world economy going - to produce all the goods and services needed. Not surprisingly, they foresee very serious problems in the task of occupying the rest of the population. Whatever happens, it is clear that the world of work will continue to change at afast pace, presenting huge challenges for individuals and societies alike.

Task 5.The following describe the functions of the different paragraphs in the text. Write the number of the appropriate paragraph next to its description.

___ It describes the difference between present and past attitudes to work.

___ It predicts how working conditions in the future will be different from the present.

___ It explains why there is a different attitude to work today than in the past.

___ It gives a personal example of one individual’s modern working lifestyle.

___ It gives some examples of how present-day workplace conditions are different from the past.

___ It describes a change in the types of work available today.

Compare your answers with a partner. Discuss why you think the writer put the paragraphs in this order.

Task 6. The sentences below could be placed at the end of one of the paragraphs in the text. Discuss with your partner where they could be placed and why.

There has also been an increase in the use of temporary, part-time, and contract workers. Temporary workers, for example, now compose one-third of the U.S. labor force, and their ranks are growing so fast that they are soon expected to outnumber full-time workers.

Task 7. Find words in the text that mean the same as the words below:

1. travel to and from a workplace (par. 1)

2. do not accept (par. 2)

3. very much (par. 3)

4. able to be changed to suit the person or situation (par. 4)

5. money made by a business after taking out costs (par. 4)

6. free time (par. 5)

7. predict (par. 6)

8. difficulties (par. 6)

Recall the context where those words were used.

Task 8. Recall synonyms to the following expressions from the previously studied material of the unit:

1. a telecommuter;

2. to be connected with one’s workplace through technology avoiding the need to commute in the usual way;

3. to manage one’s work activities oneself;

4. developed countries;

5. The workplace is changing;

6. to choose the job that pays the most;

7. a job that doesn’t allow for personal growth;

8. The number of workers has increased substantially;

9. New machines have dramatically decreased the number of people needed to produce things;

10. to lead to dramatic changes in the workplace;

11. There has been an increase in jobs in industries that provide services;

12. In very recent years, some economic experts have been predicting a world where just 20 per­cent of the population will have jobs (describe this situation with a noun phrase).

Task 9.Insert the right preposition where necessary.

1. John is a manager ___ a large company. He claims that this job allows ___ his personal growth and lets him manage ___ his work activities himself.

2. Full-time telecommuters, who are quite typical ___ the workplace of today, are those employees who work ___ their homes ___ a computer avoiding the need to commute to the office every day. Some of the advantages of being connected ___ a workplace ___ technology are that an employee can be ___ immediate, regular contact ___ his work team, has more opportunities ___ self-direction and can combine work and family life more easily.

3. Due to an economic crisis, there has been a decrease ___ the number of jobs available on the job market and an increase ___ the number of unemployed people.

4. A change ___ the work ethic, or attitude ___ work was sparked off by the increased use of computers ___ the workplace. Some workers have to attend ___ a lot of training sessions to keep ___ ___ new technology.

5. The universe is changing ___ a fast pace presenting huge challenges for scientists and researchers.

Task 10. Paraphrase the underlined items in the text “The changing workplace” and make up 5 fresh context sentences with the ones you like most.

? WRITING

Task 11. Write an essay to answer the following questions:

1) What do you think are the three most important qualities in an employee? Why?

2) What job skills do you think people will need by the year 2050?

— SPEAKING

Task 12. Prepare a presentation “What is he like, the new type of worker?”. Remember to include your active vocabulary in the presentation.

REVISION

— SPEAKING

Task 1. Keeping in mind the information from the previous three texts describe the issue of unemployment in the industrialized countries. Ponder on the reasons, consequences and the ways out. Be ready to present your work in class.

? WRITING

Task 2. Your teacher will read you an article in Russian about the problems some distant workers face. Listen to it twice. Then work individually and render it into English using your active vocabulary. When you are done, join your learning teams. Present and describe your versions, together with other students in the team create one variant of the rendering and present it in class.

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 1645