TIME TO LEARN

VOCABULARY

FOR IELTS 9 

DISCOVER THE

MEANING VIA

EXAMPLES

DISCUSS, TALK,

AND PROGRESS AS

MUCH AS YOU CAN

UNIT-1Work & Careers

Unit-1/ Work and Careers / investudy.org / 2018

nit-1: Unit-1: Work & Careers

1. productivity = the ability of people to produce useful results at work.

‘My country is not as advanced as some other countries in our industrial sector. Productivity and quality

are still quite low.’

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

2. to subsidise = to pay part of the cost of something, usually in order to help people.

‘The government could encourage children to be healthier by subsidising swimming lessons and sports

coaching at weekends.’

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

3. output = the amount of work or goods produced.

In Europe, industrial output has decreased, maybe because of competition from producers in other

continents.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

4. work/life balance = the ability to work hard but also enjoy a good quality family and social

People are working long hours these days, and so their work/life balance is affected, leading to stress.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

5. pay increments = pay rises/increases

In my country, pay increments have been very low because of the financial crisis.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

6. perks = reward from an employer which are not financial (eg free lunches, a car etc)

Personally, I’d like to work for a company that gives lots of perks, because I would find this very

enjoyable.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

7. financial rewards = any form of money payment (salary, commission, pension etc)

Being a primary teacher may be satisfying, but the financial rewards are not high

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

8. incentives = any reward that makes people work harder

Some employers offer vacations or parties as incentives if the team hits its sales targets.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

9. job satisfaction = enjoyment of a job for non-financial reasons

I get a lot of job satisfaction from my work at the wildlife centre, although the financial rewards are

quite low.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

10. target-related = dependent on hitting a target

My boss once offered me a target-related bonus, but it was almost impossible to achieve!

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

11. on the job training = training while working, not by leaving work to go to college etc

My sister has found that the on the job training she gets at her bank is very useful, and she has

progressed well because of this.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

12. ongoing training = training throughout your time in a job, not just at the start

I enjoyed my work at the airline at first, but I soon found that there was no ongoing training and my

skills weren’t really developed.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

13. career progression = the ability to advance your career

The problem with being a freelance photographer is that there’s no real career progression, unless you

become very famous.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

14. job prospects = the possibility of promotion or higher level work in future

I remember an interview when the employer told me there were excellent job prospects in their firm for

young people. In reality, this was not really true.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

15. to measure = to assess the dimensions of something

Job satisfaction may be important, but can we really measure it?

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

16. superficial = not addressing deep or important issues

I’m not a big fan of traditional music. I find the lyrics rather old-fashioned and superficial for modern

listeners.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

17. performance reviews/appraisals = meeting at which an employer gives feedback to a worker

on their work over a fixed period.

I remember being worried about my job at first, but at my six-month appraisal my manager told me she

was pleased with my efforts.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

18. redundancy = a situation where a worker loses their job because of changes in the company

(not because of personal mistakes) (verb = to make someone redundant)

In my home town, the textile factories have closed and many people have been made redundant.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

19. to restructure = to change the organisation of a company, usually in order to make it more

effective or to save money.

We used to have a large training department in my office, but in our recent restructure it was eliminated and the staff were made redundant.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

20. to downsize = to make an organisation smaller and employ fewer people

My father’s college used to employ almost one thousand people, but then it downsized and now has

less than five hundred.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

21. to outsource = to stop doing work inside the company and send it to other companies or other

countries, usually to save money

Many American companies have outsourced their IT operations to Asian countries, where productivity

is similar and salaries are lower.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

22. the workforce = the total number of people working in an organisation, company or country

The workforce in Northern Europe is skilled, but it’s also inflexible and much older than in other parts of

the world.

Your example: _________________________________________________________________________

23. Human Resources (or HR) = the department in a company which manages recruitment,

employment and training

When I graduate, I plan to work in the Human Resources area of the oil industry, possibly in the Middle

East.

Your example:

_________________________________________________________________________

Source used: IELTS Band 9 Vocab Secrets.

Equal Pay For Men and Women in Iceland Iceland has become the first country to make it illegal to pay women less than men. The new law, which took effect on January 1, imposes a fine on companies and government organisations employing more than 25 workers if they pay men more than women. The Scandinavian country wants to eliminate the pay gap between the genders completely within the next four years.

Iceland has been considered the world’s fairest country in terms of gender equality for the past nine years. In a country where half of the parliamentarians are female, women still earn about 15% less than men. The new Icelandic law aims at helping to change the attitude towards women in business and politics.

According to the World Economic Forum, a Swiss-based non-profit organisation, there is a global 58 % difference in pay between the genders. Economic experts predict that, if the current trend continues, women will have to wait over two hundred years to get equal pay and the same opportunities at work.

There is also a lack of female politicians. Only a quarter of the world’s politicians is female and fewer than one in five ministers are women. Only 23% of the world’s parliamentary seats go to females

Glosarry

1. according to = as reported by …

2. aims at = wants to achieve something

3. attitude = the feelings you have about someone or something

4. considered = thought to be

5. current trend = if the situation of today goes on

6. eliminate = get rid of; do away with

7. employ = to give a person work

8. equal = the same

9. gender equality = the same chances and opportunities for men and women

10. global = worldwide

11. illegal = against the law

12. impose = to force people to accept something

13. in terms of = if you look at or observe closely

14. lack = not enough

15. law = rule or regulation that a country has

16. non-profit = to use the money you get to help other people

17. opportunities = chances

18. parliamentarian = member of parliament

19. pay gap = the difference in the amount of money men and women get for their work

20. predict = to say that something will happen in the future

21. quarter = 25%

22. seat = here: an elected member of parliament

23. Swiss-based = organisation that operates out of Switzerland

24. take effect = start; become law

Source: http://news.english-online.at/2018/01/equal-pay-for-men-and-women-in-iceland/

“IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW GREAT YOUR SHOES ARE IF YOU

DON’T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING IN THEM.”

MAHATMA GANDHI

MARTINA BOONE