Unit-9-Efficiency-and-Employment

Unit9EfficiencyandEmployment•Warm-upActivities•Askstudentstolookatthecartooninp.119anddiscussthetopic–willtechnologyputbusinessgraduatesoutofworktoo?(p.106)8-1Efficiency&EconomicEfficiency•Efficiencyisthecapabilityofactingorproducingeffectivelywithaminimumofwaste,expense,orunnecessaryeffort.Thetermhaswidelyvariantmeaningsindifferentdisciplines.•Economicefficiencyisageneraltermforthevalueassignedtoasituationbysomemeasuredesignedtocapturetheamountofwasteorfrictionorotherundesirableandundesirableeconomicfeaturespresent.8-2Unemploymenthasgrownrapidly•Advancesincomputertechnologyledtoconsiderablestructuralchanges.Computerizationandtechnologyclearlyhaveadvantages.Butcomputerizationisprobablydestroyingmorejobsthanithascreatedsofar.•Productivityisobviouslyimportant,asincreasedproductivityistheonlysourceofincreasedwealth,but,ontheotherhand,rationalization,flexibilityandrestructuringcanallleadtounemployment.•Deregulationenablesmarketstoworkmoreefficiently,butitcanleadtoalossofjobsorjobsecurity.8-3Commonsuggestionstoreduceunemployment•Decreasingworkinghours•Loweringtheageofretirement•Job-sharing•Trainingprograms•Increasingthenumberofpublicsectorjobs•Offeringemployersreductionsinsocialsecuritycontributionsforsixmonthsiftheyhirepeoplewhohavebeenunemployedforalongtime•Question:Canmorebureaucracyandmoreadministrationfostermanufacturingemployment?•Argumentsagainstsomeofthesesuggestionsincludethefollowing:–Peopleinboringjobswouldprobablybehappywithacutinworkinghours,butnotwiththeconsequentreductionofincome.–Peoplewithinterestingandresponsiblejobsareoftenopposedtosharingthemwithsomeoneelse.Forexample,ifyouareabrandmanager,orthepersonresponsiblefordealingwithparticularclients,investors,orinvestments,youprobablydon’twanttospendThursdayandFridayathomeworryingaboutwhatsomeelseisdoingwithyourjob.Itisalsomoreexpensiveforcompaniestohiretwopart-timeworkersforthesamejob.–Trainingprogramsarepresumablyagoodideaiftherearejobsavailablethatrequiretrainedworkers,butsomeunemployedpeoplehavefewskillsandlackthecapacitiestolearnothers.–Publicsectorjobsobviouslyhavetobepaidforoutoftaxrevenue.8-4TextLearning•1Labormarketflexibility•StepI.1bDiscussion•Askthestudentstodiscussinpairsthefollowingtopics.•Hastherateofunemploymentinyourcountryincreasedordecreasedinrecentyears?•Inwhicheconomicsectorshavejobsdisappointed?•Inwhicheconomicsectorshavejobsbeencreated?•StepII.1cListening•Listentothefirstpartoftheinterviewandanswerthequestions.(p.120,1c,1-4)•StepIII.Comprehension•Listentothesecondpartoftheinterview.AccordingtowhatKatesayswhichthecorrectanswerineachcaseis?(p.120-121,1d,1-4)•StepIV.1eListening•Listentothethirdpartoftheinterviewandanswerthethesequestions.(p.121,1e,1-2)•2JobSecurity•StepI.2bReading•Readthearticleanddecidewhichofthefollowingyouthinkwastheoriginalsub-title:(p.122)•StepII.2cComprehension•Underlineorhighlightthephrasesorpart-sentencesinwhichthejournalist:(p.123,1-10)•StepIII.Discussion•Canmorebureaucracyandmoreadministrationfostermanufacturingemployment?•Areyouoptimisticorpessimisticaboutyourownfuture?•Doyouqualificationyouarecurrentlystudyingfortogetyouapermanentjob?•Doyouseeanyareasinwhichalargenumberofjobsmightrealisticallybecreated?Oranyothersolutionstothecurrentlyexistinghighratesofunemploymentandtemporarywork?