2.Warunki pracy, zatrudnienia, rynek pracy.

Ćwiczenie 2.

Przeczytaj teksty. Wykorzystując zawarte w nich słownictwo, odpowiedz na pytania.

As technology increasingly blurs the shortest emails. In contrast, middle

boundary between work and home managers send lengthy emails full of

life, it might become necessary to instructions. And inclusion or

have regulations to protect the exclusion from internal management

privacy of employees' out-of-office email lists can become another

hours, says a senior thinktank* expression of a pecking order*,
researcher. There is little chance of escaping

The emergence of a flexible the rise and rise of technology, as
workforce using technology to work three-quarters of jobs now involve the
from home or when they're on the use of some type of computer
move hasn't so far been matched by technology This has meant re-
guidelines to protect them. While organisation in the workplace, but it
there are regulations in areas such as hasn't created the social changes that
health and safety and bullying and we might once have expected. There
harassment, it remains uncertain to has been plenty of talk about tele-
what extent employees can be expected workers living in techno-crofts on
to be 'flexible' about answering the a remote island or wherever. But in
mobile phone or emails in their own practice, this is still a rare species. And,
time. apart from the already self-employed,

Anyone on a commuter train will there is little sign of full-time remote

know from the phone calls around working becoming more standard,
them that many people's working day But there are positive sides,

stretches outside the office. And as Techno-logy has meant that at least

email is integrated into mobiles, some people can be more flexible

presumably we'll soon be working in about their work. And there is

even more diverse places. This raises evidence that where technology is

questions about what is reasonable. more thoughtfully and systematically

How many calls or emails? How late at deployed, there are benefits. Despite

night would they have to be, for it to fears about work-place technology

be considered unacceptable? being used as a form of surveillance*,

Also, rather than changing this doesn't seem to happen,
workplaces, technology can become But despite the hype*, technology

a way of reinforcing the existing for many workers has meant nothing

hierarchies. Emails can become more innovative than a headset or

a reflection of how far someone has a checklist on a PC. And a gap remains

shinned up* the corporate ladder. between what technology promises...

The most powerful people in an and what happens in practice,
organisation tend to send off the

* thinktank - a group of experts who provide advice and ideas about a problem (zespół doradców)

*a pecking order - the way the positions people have are arranged according to their status (hierarchia w obrębie grupy)

Pytania:

1. Is working from home really the future of employment? Present its advantages and disadvantages. Is the comfort of one's home always conducive to working effectively? Can the relative lack of interpersonal contact with other employees and staff (e.g. in the office) help in working effectively? How?

2. Would you like to work from home or rather not? Why?

When I grow up I want to be a nurse ... professionals taking stock of their

then a policewoman ... then an actor... careers and switching to

then a journalist... then a teacher ... a completely different path. According

then an artist... to a recent study, five million people are

Jane Haddow would have made her expected to plan a career change in

careers adviser proud. By the time she 2005. School-leavers are now advised

reached her 30th birthday, she had that they can expect 19 job changes in

ticked all the right boxes and was on their lifetime, at least five of which will

her way to becoming a stereotypical move them into

success story. She had a degree, she had a dramatically different sector,
travelled and she had worked her way As recently as 30 years ago, this could

up through the ranks of not have been further from the norm,

a prestigious organisation. But looking The position chosen after school or

back on her time as the art director of university set the pattern for lifelong

a large television company, she sounds employment, certainly in the same

dejected*. "I was facing a dark tunnel. profession or trade, if not exactly the

It felt as though there was no way out, same position. Job security was high

everything just overwhelmed me." and guaranteed, so long as an employee

Haddow's schedule was packed with showed loyalty and commitment to

exciting work projects, and her free their firm.

time was filled with all the social highs Interviews from a sample of more
you would expect of a 20-something than 1,000 employees found that one in
living in London. "I did love it at the 15 under-35s had already left a high-
beginning, as London can be fantastic," powered, high-stress job in favour of
she says. "But I was working 12-hour a more fulfilling career. A further 45
shifts, six days per cent were considering a change of
a week, in a very high-pressured job. career to something less demanding.
After a few years, I found that there was The move - referred to as 'protirement' -
nowhere left to go." tended to lead this group away from

After seven years, Haddow left her traditional professions such as law,

job and enrolled on a sports massage finance and the media into more

course. She moved to Edinburgh and 'satisfying' roles in charity work,

now practises sports massage, while outdoors employment or creative

supporting herself with another part- occupations.

time job. "I now earn about a quarter Careers advisers are now training the

of my London salary, but there is no next generation of workers to be

doubt in my mind that I did the right prepared for change. With part-time

thing. I am so much happier now," she access courses and career development

says. loans, the path towards a new career is

Haddow is not unusual. Over the much easier,
past decade there has been a marked
increase in the number of young

Stressed out office workers dream of outdoor life

Millions of office workers dream of questioned said they would like to

having a practical or outdoor job become their own boss, with stress

because of rising levels of stress and one of the main reasons for office

workloads, a new survey of 1,000 staff wanting a new challenge.
employees revealed today. One in five Research findings indicate that

office staff long to get their hands self-employment is a popular choice

dirty in a more vocational post, while as workers push job satisfaction up

a third are actively planning a career the agenda. Britain has always had

switch. The poll showed that one in a strong enterprise culture, but

eight lawyers dreamed of becoming anyone considering the self-

a farmer, while a similar number of employment route needs a certain set

architects would love to become artists of skills to succeed, such as financial

or cartoonists. Many of those management and marketing.

Pytania

1. How can a person's job affect his or her everyday life: for example, daily routines, family life, circle of friends, health?

2. In what way do you think self-employment (i.e. being your own boss) can increase job satisfaction?

3. Present the advantages and drawbacks of lifelong employment in one and the same company.

Age discrimination _{Rather than bdng a sign of}

til Vi OW\ young people's high expectations,

More young people believe they the younger employees' complaints

suffer from discrimination in the illustrated how senior managers

workplace than older employees, tended to think of age

a survey has found. While 48% of discrimination in terms of older

employees over 45 felt people of workers. Nearly half of senior

their age were being sidelined in managers think that age

the world of work, 58% of those discrimination only affects old

aged between 16 and 24 felt they had people. Also, only a fifth of

been unfairly treated because of companies have a ban on using age

their age or lack of experience. The as a factor in recruitment.
research revealed that people Under the new anti-

believed the workplace was rife* discrimination law, job adverts

with age discrimination, which using phrases such as 'experienced',

will be banned by legislation due 'graduate' or 'mature' could be

to come into force in October regarded as discriminatory,

2006. breaching* legislation.

*be rife with [something unpleasant] - be full of something (roić się od czegoś; być przeżartym czymś)

*breach - break, e.g. a rule, law or an agreement (naruszyć, złamać)

Women in less than 10% of top jobs

Fewer than 10% of the most senior not balanced and it's not good for

jobs in public life are held by women, business."

despite the passing of sex The report says the way people

discrimination laws almost 30 years organise their lives at home and work

ago. A new survey by the Equal is changing. Women are having babies

Opportunities Commission shows later and men are spending more time

that women are still under- with their children. But women still

represented in positions of encounter particular obstacles,

influence in business, the police, Women who care for children or

media and senior judiciary even relatives are still disadvantaged by the

though more females are working 'long hours culture' and the

than ever before. Women account for assumption that by working part

just 7% of the senior judiciary and time they have abandoned all hope of

the senior ranks of Britain's police career advancement. They also lose

forces, and 1% of the senior ranks in out at the recruitment stage,

the armed forces. The research - said Applications for senior jobs are too

to be the most detailed study of often generated through informal

women's representation in senior networks. When women are

positions reveals that just 9% of the considered, the approach taken by

country's top business leaders and interviewers counts against them

national newspaper editors are because 'assessments of leadership

women. This is despite the fact that potential often fail to recognise what

women account for 45% of the they could bring to the job',
workforce and 30% of managers. The EOC is urging employers to

This survey report, entitled Sex promote flexible working and to

and Power: Who Runs Britain?, says employ 'positive action' where

that despite all the talk of equality, women are under-represented. This

most organisations have left the same would allow them to take measures

kind of people in charge. "Open the designed to counteract the effects of

door of any boardroom or council past discrimination, such as making

chamber and the chances are that special training programmes

1. What are the reasons for sex and age discrimination in the workplace? Present and justify your opinion.

2. What can be done to eliminate discrimination at work?

most people around the table will be available,
men," it says. "It's not democratic, it's

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