THE BALANCED WORKERS OF TOMORROW

1. They gave him……….for being late.
2. Many students work ………. as waiters in cafés, as hosts at trade fairs, as bicycle couriers, office assistants, cleaners or babysitters.
3. If you are ………. you will be able to choose the work you do, choose the hours you work and take holidays when you like.
4. Currently, women ………. at the age of 55 and men at the age of 60 in Russia.
5. Workers went on strike to demand better ……….and working conditions.

Complete the text using the most appropriate words from the list bellow.

My first job (1) ………. as a sales assistant at a large department store. I (2)………. to work full-time, because I was still studying at university and I was only able to work a few nights a week.

I (3)………. across the advertisement in the local newspaper. I remember the interview as though it were yesterday. The personnel manager (4)………. behind a large desk. He asked me various questions which surprised me because all I wanted was to work in sales. An hour later, I was told that I had got the job and was given a contract to go over. I was to be trained for ten days before I (5)………. my post. Also, as a member of staff I was entitled to some benefits, including discounts.

When I eventually started, I was responsible for the toy section. I really (6)………. it there and I loved demonstrating the different toys. I was surprised at how friendly my colleagues (7)………., too. They (8)………. working there fun even when we (9)………. deal with customers who (10) ………. our nerves. On the whole, working there was a great experience which I will never forget.

Exam skills

THE BALANCED WORKERS OF TOMORROW

Work-life balance is the buzzword of the moment. Last week was the fourth annual Work-Life Balance week in which a record two million employees took part. Meanwhile, forward-looking organisations are boasting of their
work-life programmes. But can raising awareness of work-life balance - recognising employees as real people with personal lives, responsibilities and interests - have a real impact on the workplace? Getting the balance right depends on convincing employers of the benefits and making sure workers are confident enough to ask for changes to their conditions in the current job market. Afterall, a worker who did not feel secure in his or her workplace would not ask for better working conditions.

Recent working proposals have increased parental leave and given certain workers the right to have their requests for flexible working at least considered. However, these guidelines fall far short of being made law. What seems like common sense - that if there were more satisfied employees this would result in less absenteeism, stress-related illness and staff turnover - is backed up by a growing number of studies It has been calculated that 30per cent of sick leave in Britain is attributed to stress, anxiety and depression - all made worse by poor work—life balance. The annual cost to the UK health service of stress-related illness is £2 billion, while this year it has been estimated that the cost of stress-related absence reached $300 billion a year in the US and $200 million in Australia.

Indeed, the focus is now shifting to the next generation of workers by highlighting the pressures on younger people thinking about entering the workforce or already juggling part-time work with their studies. A poor economy has done little to encourage job-seekers to bargain for better conditions. Job insecurity and unemployment have changed attitudes, particularly at the younger end of the job market. So would the next generation fight for better conditions if it came to changing their working lives? For some school leavers their anxiety over finding work was far greater than the strain that they feared work may bring to their lives. They believed that if they did not do the job, then someone else would do it instead of them.

Can anything be done to improve this critical situation? Flexible work arrangement, part-time work, job-sharing, home-based work and paid parental leave are all examples of family-friendly practices that help people to balance their lives. In order to have a more balanced life, more and more people are choosing to work from home at least some of the time, but there are many new dangers - overworking, lack of communication with the office and negative impact on home life are examples of the problems with home-based work. The biggest obstacle to balancing work and home life seems to be attitude: organisations and the people they employ need to recognise that work—life balance can actually improve productivity without significant investment. Many workers would be happy to work their hours, if they could get back some control over their busy lives. In the meantime, experts vary in their advice far strategies for balancing our work and lives.