The World of Work

II – Reading Test

Name No. Class Date

You are going to read a text about the future of work.

The future of work

The debate about the future of work tends to divide commentators into two groups. The
optimistic case is that technology may cause temporary disruption but will ultimately result in
economic growth and thus more jobs. The pessimists argue that new technology, even if it does not
cause mass unemployment, will create a “digital divide”.
5 A recent report is relatively optimistic. It predicts that men and women will be equally affected
by automation over the next decade, with 21% of working males and 20% of females losing their jobs
by 2030. In the developed world, the report estimates that men will tend to lose machine-operating
jobs and women will lose clerical and service roles. New jobs will be created, though not necessarily
for the same people.
10 Not all of these jobs will be well paid – the employment boom of recent years has been in low-
paid work. On the bright side, discouraged workers have rejoined the labour market as the economy
has boomed and technology has made it easier for employers to find workers (and vice versa).
How much of this low-paid work is the result of “on-demand” jobs? Not much so far; it
represents about only 1% of American employment. However, on-demand jobs will reach 60% of the
15 global workforce by 2055. This category includes those who work for temporary staffing agencies,
have short-term contracts or who accept work from employers through websites or apps.
All this makes it sound as if the future of jobs will look like the past. Before the days of the
factory and the office, many workers were part of a “putting-out system”, in which merchants hired
them to undertake specific tasks, such as spinning or weaving, for which they were paid a piece rate.
20 The attraction to employers is that such work is cheap as they don’t pay benefits or allocate office
space. Furthermore, in on-demand workers’ main markets, America and India, there is little access to
the legal protections associated with formal employment.
However, the new forms of employment have a plus side. Many workers in emerging markets
relish the opportunity to work at home and at times of their choosing. On some platforms, workers
25 are identified by a sequence of letters and numbers, meaning that they are free from discrimination
on the grounds of age, religion or sex.
www.economist.com (abridged and adapted)

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 1. Match the ideas in column A with the corresponding paragraph in column B.

COLUMN A COLUMN B

a. Research predictions on shifts in the job market Paragraph 1

b. Positive impact of online jobs for employees Paragraph 2
c. Percentage of on-demand workers in the future Paragraph 4
d. Opposing views on benefits of technology in jobs Paragraph 6

2. Match each word in column A with the word or expression they refer to in column B.

COLUMN A COLUMN B

a. it (line 3) 1. low-paid work

b. it (line 5) 2. a recent report
c. it (line 13) 3. new technology

3. Choose the correct option (a or b) to complete the sentences according to the text.
3.1 The term “digital divide” used in paragraph 1 implies that
a. there is a clear disadvantage for those who have no access to new technologies.
b. there are some regions which have no access or have restricted access to new technologies.

3.2 According to statistics, technology has enabled the creation of new underpaid jobs which will, in
the future, correspond to
a. a tiny fraction of short-term or online work.
b. the majority of the global workforce.

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3.3 The working arrangements of future jobs resemble past employment conventions as
a. employees are paid according to the work performed.
b. employers have easy access to a cheap work force.

3.4 In this text, the author’s main purpose is to

a. highlight the ongoing changes in the job market.
b. point out the benefits and drawbacks of technology in the job market.

4. Read the following text about remote work. Three sentences have been removed. Put them in the
right place. Two of the sentences do not apply.

This is primarily made possible by rapid technological development.

Employees still need to be closely involved in the company, though.
It creates greater freedom for individuals and offers new recruiting possibilities for
companies.

Location-independent work is a popular trend – not just among employees, but also for many
companies. a. ___________________________________________________. The remote work model
promises freedom, schedule flexibility and the ability to balance personal and professional tasks.
b. ___________________________________________________. Small and medium-sized
businesses located outside of major urban areas increasingly complain about a lack of skilled staff and
decreasing numbers of applicants. Besides the financial pay-offs, benefits from hiring remotely are
evident. c. ___________________________________________________. Otherwise, the employer will
soon become an easily exchangeable element and high staff turnover will be unavoidable.

https://job-wizards.com
(abridged and adapted)

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