ESL Podcast 460 - Working in a Bad Economy
economy - the financial system where things are made, bought, and sold in a particular country or region
How much of Florida's economy depends on tourism?
to take its toll - to have a negative or bad influence on someone or something; to make something more difficult; to make someone more tired or older
Smoking cigarettes for 20 years really took its toll on her health.
to lay off (someone) - to take away someone's job; to tell a person that he or she no longer has a job at a particular company; to fire someone
When the company decided to move its operations to Asia, thousands of U.S. workers were laid off.
workforce - the group of people who work for a particular company or in a particular industry or country
The U.S. workforce needs more nurses and engineers.
salary - the amount of money that one receives in one year for one's work, no matter how many hours one actually works; not an hourly rate
Do you think $65,000 is a good starting salary for a chemical engineer?
it goes without saying - a phrase used to show that what one is going to say next is very obvious, easy to understand, and already known by almost everyone
It goes without saying that people who are nice to others have more friends.
bonus - money received for one's work in addition to the money that one normally receives, usually because one has done one's job very well, or because the company has made a lot of money in a particular period of time
If the company makes $1 million this year, we'll all get end-of-the-year bonuses.
freelancer - independent contractor; a person who works independently for many different companies at the same time and is not employed by any one company
He is a graphic designer who works as a freelancer for many clients, helping them design brochures and newsletters.
hourly rate - the amount of money that one is paid for one hour of work, where one receives payment only for the number of hours worked
What is the minimum hourly rate in Iowa?
to flood (something) - to be very numerous; to have such large numbers of something that they overwhelm what was there before
Teenage girls flooded the concert hall as soon as the doors were opened.
job market - the group of people who are looking for jobs and the group of companies that are looking for new employees
The job market for accountants is very competitive.
to pick and choose - to have many options to choose from; to have many choices when deciding something
How long does the average shopper take to pick and choose what he or she wants to buy in our store?
overtime - time worked in addition to one's regular working hours, usually after one has already worked 40 hours per week and usually paid at 150% of one's normal hourly rate
During the snow storm, many city employees worked overtime to clear the roads.
to compensate - to pay someone for one's work; to give someone something in return for the work he or she has done
Do you think people should be compensated more if they produce better results than their co-workers do?
to bill - to send someone a piece of paper stating how much that person is supposed to pay for a product or service
There must be a problem in the store's computer system because we were billed twice last month.
by the hour - each hour; per hour
That parking garage charges by the hour: $2.75 per hour on weekdays and $1.25 on weekends.
to not know how good (one) has it - a phrase used when someone is complaining about something when there actually isn't any need to complain because he or she is already in a very good situation and just doesn't realize it
Many college students complain that they don't have enough free time, but they don't know how good they have it. Just wait until they have to work full-time and support a family!
to walk a mile in (someone's) shoes - to experience something as another person experiences it; to live someone else's life; to have someone else's experiences
I wish my boss could walk a mile in my shoes! He has no idea how hard I work each day.
ditto - an informal word used when one completely agrees with what was just said; an informal word used when one wants to repeat exactly what another person has said
I wish we didn't have to go back to work tomorrow.
Ditto!