Summary vocabulary part 7

Companies and careers
English for business

1. Career paths
 Retirement
o The age at which people retire (end their working life)
 Career paths
o Work your way up the career ladder
o Getting promotion to jobs that were more senior (more important with greater
responsibility)
o You would probably not be demoted (moves to a less senior job)

2. Company structure
 Restructured to become more flatter (with fewer layers of management) and leaner (with
fewer, more productive employees)
o Downsize and delayered
 Necessary to reduce the costs > increasing efficiency and profits
 Company hierarchy

3. In-house staff of freelancers
Note

 Freelancers or freelances

Vocabulary

 Downsized companies mostly outsource jobs, done by in-house personnel
o They use more freelancers (independent people who work for several different
companies) or ask contractors to work for short periods on temporary contracts
o Often expect flexibility
 Job insecurity = the feeling they may not be in their job for long
 Performance review = regular meetings with their manager

4. Leaving a company
Note

 Someone’s contract has been terminated
 Fired, sacked and given the sack = informal
 BrE only: sacked and given the sack

Vocabulary

 To leave a company
o Resign
o Hand in your notice



 You did something wrong and are forced to leave