Breaking the news n°3 : Unemployment in the UK
Go to the BBC special report here , watch it twice and answer the following questions...
I- Global comprehension, to make sure you've understood the main topics of this report :
1)In which British sectors have many job losses been seen ?
2)How many workers have seen their basic wages fall last year ?
3)What about construction workers ?
4)Did managers and chief executives escape this fall in wages ?
5)Do employers and employees agree about this kind of measure ?
6)How many unemployed workers are there nowadays ?
7)What's the perspective for 2009 ? (Precisely quote the reporter with the verbs «reach» and «breach»)
II- Vocabulary : In this report you've been reminded some different ways to express...
1)to lose one's job...
2)the money payment one receives for the work he/she has done...
3)verbs that indicate a decrease...
III- True or false ? (and justify your choice)
1)The economic situation was so deteriorated in 2008 that unemployment has slumped
2)The only sector in which there has been fall in wages was construction
3)Managers and chief executives are not suffering the fall in wages
4)Employees and employers agreed on taking pay cut as an alternative to layoffs
IV- By group of 2, write a brief dialogue (that you will play next time...) between two characters :
an employer who is really concerned about the situation of his/her workers AND an employee really worried of being made redundant ; they will :
a) discuss the economic situation the firm is facing,
b) try to reach an agreement by considering some options :
firing half of the employees
reducing the numbers of working days per week
taking pay cut for both managers and workers during the downturn
c)and of course use a proper language including as many words and expressions seen in this chapter as possible !
V- To go further : as a macroeconomist you're really concerned about these kind of options, that's why you draw a little diagram with the following expressions and arrows to picture their possible and unintentional consequences (remember the other terms : drawbacks or shortcomings) :
«economic crisis / demand G-S / pay cuts / unemployment /
purchasing power / consumption / production or supply G-S (twice)»
More on that topic ? BBC audio and video reports : workers take paycut
A bleak picture of the UK economy
Reducing the working week
A way to take the most of job loss : she went back to college !