Hello. This is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English.
I'm Georgina.
And I'm Neil.
In this programme, we're going to be
talking about the world of work.
Ah yes, travelling to an office
five days a week, sitting at a desk
all day, and then going home.
Neil, it's not always like that.
Office work doesn't have to be such a
routine - the usual, fixed
way of doing things -
it is much more
flexible these days.
That's true. During the pandemic,
we've all had to have
a more flexible approach to work.
Yes, we have.
And it has, perhaps, changed our attitude
to working flexibly.
But even before coronavirus there was an
opportunity to work flexibly,
and we'll be discussing that soon.
But there's one thing that
can't be changed and that's you
setting a quiz question!
Ah yes, I hadn't forgotten.
So, Neil, I know you work very hard.
But according to data from
the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development -
the OECD -
workers from which country work
the longest hours?
Is it... a) South Korea,
b) Germany, or
c) Mexico?
Well, as I'm not on the list,
let's go for c) Mexico.
OK, Neil, we'll find out if that's right
at the end of the programme.
But let's talk more about
flexible working now.
Different countries have different laws
about working flexibly...
but here in the UK, for last 14 years,
employees - workers -
have had the right to request
flexible working.
But what does it mean to work flexibly?
Sarah Jackson is a workplace
consultant and visiting professor at
Cranfield University School of Management.
She spoke to BBC Radio 4's
Woman's Hour programme
about what it means exactly...
Because of the pandemic, now
everybody thinks flexible working
means working from home -
it doesn't, it's about common sense,
what does the job need in terms of
when where, how long,
and what do you need and
what does your family - need
and how do the two match?
So, flexibility really means
having some choice and control
over when, where and how
long you work, and agreeing
that with your manager.
So, flexible working is not just
working from home -
something we've got used to
during the pandemic.
It is about common sense - using our
judgment to make sensible decisions.
So, requesting to work for two
hours a day is not sensible -
but being able to work
from 12 until 8 instead of 9 to 5
might be.
Of course, this depends on the needs of
the business.
And as Sarah said, you need to match
your needs with that of the business.
Match here means to work
equally on both sides.
Getting the working conditions
that suit you does require
some negotiation with your manager.
You need agreement from him or her -
and that can be difficult if
your manager is inflexible -
not willing to change.
But of course, in the UK at least,
an employee has a
right to request flexible working,
and this must
be considered by the employer.
This law initially was just for parents
with a child younger than
6 years old -
or a disabled child less than 18.
But since 2014,
everyone has the right to request
flexible working.
And that includes men.
Which is an important point, as
Sarah Jackson explains.
Fewer men seem to have their requests
for flexible working accepted -
let's find out why.
Men, when they do ask,
are more likely to be turned down,
so there's a real bias there in the system
and the most important thing
that needs to happen here, I think,
is for employers to
really actively start saying to their men,
'we know you want to be active fathers' -
because there's a whole generation of young men
who do want to be active fathers -
'please use the right to request
flexible working', work flexibly if you can -
because until men are
enabled to be active fathers,
we won't get equality at home and we
certainly won't get equality in the workplace either.
OK, so men are more likely to
have their request turned down - or rejected.
And Sarah says there is a
bias in the system - unfairness,
treating one group of people more
favorably than another.
And this is unfair because it can
prevent some men being active fathers -
actually being involved with childcare.
But having more active fathers can
lead to equality - or fairness - at
home and in the workplace.
It sounds like something that
needs to be looked at.
But now, Neil,
let's get the answer to my question.
According to official data,
in which country do workers work
the longest hours?
And I said Mexico.
Which is correct, well done!
According to the OECD,
the average Mexican spends
2,255 hours at work per year -
the equivalent of around 43 hours per week.
Germans, on the other hand,
clock up the fewest hours.
Well, my working day is nearly over,
so let's just recap some of the vocabulary
we've discussed.
Starting with routine -
the usual, fixed way of doing things.
Common sense is our judgment to
make sensible decisions.
When you need something to match it
has to work equally on both sides.
And when someone is inflexible,
they are unwilling to change -
sometimes we say they won't budge!
Bias is unfairness, treating one
group of people more favorably than another.
And being active with something
means being involved with it.
Well, there's no flexibility in our 6 minutes
so we're out of time.
We have plenty more 6 Minute English
programmes to enjoy on our website
at bbclearningenglish.com.
And check us out on Facebook,
Twitter and Instagram.
Don't forget that
we have an app too,
which you can download for free
from the app stores.
We help you learn English on the move!
Grammar, vocabulary and interesting topics -
we have them all!
Bye for now.
Goodbye.
Hello. This is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English.
I'm Rob.
And I'm Sam.
Have you got a 'business brain', Sam?
Would you like to start your own business?
It sounds good, Rob.
I like the idea of being my own boss.
Well, that's the dream for many
millennials - the name given to the
current generation of young people
aged between 24 and 38.
Some of the millennial generation are
dissatisfied with the old ways of doing things,
for example how big business uses
data from social media and the negative
impact of companies on society
and the environment.
In today's programme, we'll look
at why millennials are so attracted
to starting their own businesses
and asking whether this really is
the way to make the world a better place.
And of course, we'll be learning some new
vocabulary on the way.
But first, it's time for today's quiz question.
At 79 years old, Muhammad Yunus
is hardly a millennial but he's a hero
to many young business people.
In 2006 he won the Nobel Peace Prize,
but what for?
Was it for: a) offering microfinance
to low-income businesses,
b) starting the first business
to earn £1m in under a week,
or c) developing a progressive
model of taxation.
Hmmm, I know millennials
like starting businesses
so I'll say,
b) earning £1m in under a week.
OK. We'll find out later if you were right.
Now, whether it's TV shows like
'The Apprentice' or the big success of
companies in California's Silicon Valley,
the last decade saw a huge growth
in 20 and 30-year-olds starting their
own businesses.
BBC World Service programme
The Why Factor asked business professor,
Ethan Mollick to explain how
this situation came about...
There's all these platforms that let you
build entrepreneurial ventures
much more easily.
The growth of things like crowdfunding
have helped make entrepreneurship
more accessible and led to tons of
new start-ups.
So there's a lot of new methods
for launching businesses and the cost of
launching new businesses dropped at
the same time.
Ethan lists some of the reasons why it's
now easier to become an entrepreneur -
someone who starts their own business,
often after seeing a new opportunity.
Entrepreneurs see opportunities for
products and services not being supplied by
existing companies, so they create
start-ups newly formed businesses
intended to grow rapidly by
providing for a particular market gap.
One of the main problems to starting
up your own business
used to be getting the large
amounts of money needed,
but nowadays this can be solved
with crowdfunding -
getting the funding for a new business
by asking a large number of people to
give small amounts of money,
usually via the internet.
But while start-up success stories
have made going into business
a good option, for many millennials
it's not just about making money but also about
being socially responsible and doing good.
However, others argue that most big changes
for the better have come from governments
not millennial businesses.
Here, former World Bank economist, Charles Kenny,
cautions against over-emphasizing
individual business over governments...
If you are working in a place with a corrupt and
inefficient government, one of the best ways you
can push development in your country is to
try and make that problem a little bit better.
It's not something that any one individual
can do, it has to be a collective effort,
but the more we have young,
committed, smart people who want to make
the world a better place working in government,
the more likely government is
to start delivering the kind of services
we need in order to ensure a high quality of life
in that country.
So, Charles mentions the problem
that governments can be corrupt -
act in morally wrong or illegal ways,
often in return for money or power.
The talent and passion that millennials
put into starting their own business
could instead be used to improve governments
through collective effort -
a group of people acting together
to achieve a common goal.
It's this working together that can raise
people's quality of life -
level of personal satisfaction and comfort.
Something that Muhammad Yunus was doing.
Ah yes, that's today's quiz question.
I asked you why Muhammad Yunus
won the Nobel Prize in 2006.
I said that, b) he started
the first business to earn £1m
in under a week.
But in fact it was a) offering
microfinance to low-income businesses -
a way for anyone, rich or poor,
to run a business in a positive way.
Today, we've been talking about
why young people in the millennial generation
want to be entrepreneurs -
people who start their own business.
Many millennials create start-ups -
newly formed businesses intended to grow
rapidly using a method called crowdfunding -
getting the funding for their new business
by asking large numbers of people
on the internet to each
give a little bit of money.
But it's not only about making profits.
Millennial start-ups can help solve
many of the developing world's problems,
instead of governments which may be corrupt -
acting immorally or illegally
for money or power.
What's needed more than individual
businessmen and women is collective effort -
a group of people acting together
to achieve a common goal.
And one important goal is
to improve the quality of life -
the level of satisfaction
and comfort that a person or group enjoys.
That's all from us today.
But remember to join us again soon
for more topical discussion
and vocabulary.
Bye for now!
Bye!
Hello and welcome to
6 Minute English. I'm Neil.
And I'm Sam.
Now Sam, how would you define eSports?
eSports? Well this is essentially
competitive video gaming.
Individuals and teams take part in competitions
where they play video games.
So just like me and my kids
at the weekend?
Well, no! eSports is enormous
tens of thousands of people turn up to
watch these events.
The players are professional and get paid
huge salaries - the best ones are millionaires.
Well, maybe i'm not quite in that league yet!
But the business of eSports is our
topic for this programme.
Before we press 'play' on the subject
though, a question.
Approximately how much was generated
by eSports and video games in the last year?
Was it... a) $130 million?
b) $13 billion?
or, c) $130 billion?
What do you think then Sam?
I'm going to say $130 billion.
It's a huge amount, but I think it's that
successful at the moment.
OK, we'll find out if you're right
at the end of the programme.
Not so long ago the idea of
making a living playing computer games
would have seemed impossible.
However, times have changed as technology
has improved.
eSports are even going to be included in
the 2022 Asian Games.
So it might not be long before they
make an appearance at the Olympics.
Gabriël Rau is a pro-eSportsman.
He was interviewed for the BBC
programme In Business.
He thinks eSports are going to grow
and grow, but does he think that's
a bad thing?
It's becoming more of a normal
sports thing with this generation
about to have children and moving forward
I feel like it might even become a staple.
Might become as normal as sports
are right now.
I don't think it
necessarily has to be a bad thing.
it is time-consuming though,
so I feel like, if you do want to
introduce anybody, especially children,
in the video games, discipline
is the way to go.
So is the growth of eSports a bad thing?
Not, according to Gabriël.
He thinks that people having children
now have grown up with computer games
and these are beginning to be seen
in the same way as traditional sports.
In fact, he thinks they will become a staple.
And what does he mean by that?
Something that is a staple is a
basic element, something we expect.
For example, in the UK
we talk about potatoes
being a staple food
and football being a staple of the
school curriculum.
But he does mention a disadvantage,
doesn't he?
Yes. He speaks quite quickly
but he says that it is time-consuming.
It eats up a lot of time!
Oh yes, I know that from my
own experience.
I can start playing a game and then
find that many hours have passed
and it's the middle of the night.
And that's why Gabriël goes on to
talk about the need for discipline.
This is having strict controls
and restrictions and importantly
sticking to them.
So, for example if you say
you're only going to play for an hour
every day, you have to stop playing
after an hour, even if you want to carry on.
That's discipline.
And he makes the point that
this is important if you're introducing
children to video games.
Not everyone involved in eSports
wants to be a player.
It's now possible to study the
business of eSports university
where you can learn how to
manage eSports events.
These are the thoughts of a student
on one of those courses talking about
her response to seeing a big eSports event.
When you look at the background of
how it all comes together
and the the people that spend
all that time getting into it,
for me I would love to put something
like that together, not so much
play it but to put that together
and create that
experience for other people
and that was just my main
aspiration really.
So she doesn't want to play does she?
No she doesn't.
She seems more interested in
putting together an event,
which means setting up
and managing an event for others
to take part in.
That she said, was her aspiration,
her ambition.
Right, before we review the vocabulary,
let's have the answer to our quiz question.
Approximately how much was generated
by eSports and video games in the last year?
a) $130 million?
b) $13 billion? or c) $130 billion?
What did you say, Sam?
I thought $130 billion.
And, for once, you're right so
well done.
The actual figure was approximately
$137 billion, which is more than the
music industry when you include music
sales and concerts.
Right on now to remind ourselves of
some words and phrases
from today's programme.
Yes, we've been looking at eSports,
the world of competitive video gaming.
We heard that it was becoming so normal
that it might become a staple,
an expected basic activity in the
same way sports like football are.
But be warned,
playing video games is very
time-consuming.
It eats up a lot of time.
So you need to have discipline.
That means you need to have
and keep to restrictions such as the
length of time you play or the
time of day you play.
That is particularly important for children.
If you organize an event,
you can say that you put it together.
And your ambition, your hope for the future
is an aspiration.
And my aspiration is to beat my
high score on my favourite game,
so are we done now, Neil?
Yes, it's game over for today.
We'll see you again soon and don't
forget to look out for more from the BBC
Learning English team online,
on social media and on our app.
Bye for now.
Bye everyone!
Hello. This is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil.
And I'm Georgina.
If you've ever done shopping
online, then you may well have
used the internet giant, Amazon.
From its origins as an online bookstore,
Amazon has grown into grocery deliveries,
TV and music streaming and
even space exploration, making its founder,
Jeff Bezos, the richest person on earth.
Amazon is so successful it affects
how many of us live our lives,
so in this program we'll be taking a look
inside the brain of Jeff Bezos
to find out how he thinks.
When Jeff Bezos's friends talk about him,
three words they often use are:
invention, risk-taking
and long-term vision.
These are qualities which Bezos
admired in his grandfather, Lawrence,
who from an early age taught
Jeff that by careful thinking,
any problem can be solved.
As a boy, Jeff and his grandfather
repaired an old broken down truck.
When interviewed today,
Bezos sometimes compares Amazon
to that truck:
very heavy, but impossible to
stop when it rolls downhill -
which is exactly what accidentally
happened one day!
But do you know how the story ends, Georgina?
That's my quiz question.
What happened when the young
Jeff Bezos's car accidentally rolled downhill?
Was it: a) Jeff jumped in and
pulled the handbrake?
b) Jeff's grandad lost a thumb?
or, c) Jeff's hair fell out?
Well, Jeff Bezos is bald so maybe
it's c) his hair fell out.
OK, Georgina.
We'll find out later.
As a company, Amazon has been
remarkably strong: it survived the
dot com crash of 2000
and saw profits jump during the Covid
pandemic as more and more people
started shopping online.
Retail analyst, Natalie Berg,
thinks Amazon's success is due
to its customer strategy
as she explains to BBC
Radio 4 programme, 'Seriously':
Jeff Bezos applied this concept
to Amazon by relentlessly focusing on
customers, by putting them at the
heart of the business - that that
would attract more customers,
more traffic to its site
which would in turn attract more sellers,
which would mean a greater selection
for customers, which again
would enhance the customer experience.
Natalie thinks that Amazon put
customers at the heart of their business -
in other words, they make customers
the most important part.
This improves Amazon's customer
experience - a customer's total perception
of their experience with a business,
including such things as the quality of
service and support if something goes wrong.
Customers can write reviews on
Amazon's website and happy customers
means more web traffic -
the number of people visiting
a particular website.
In the difficult years following the
dot com crash, Jeff Bezos started
Market Place where other sellers compete
with Amazon's own products.
More sellers brought more customers
which in turn brought down prices.
Then in 2013, Bezos bought The
Washington Post.
And in 2019 he launched his
space exploration company, Blue Origin,
to explore mineral resources on Mars.
Most recently, Jeff Bezos
has set his sights on even bigger
things - saving the future of the planet!
Bezos chose Tom Rivet-Carnac
of the environmental group, Global Optimism,
to help Amazon meet climate initiative
goals aimed at slowing climate change.
Here is Tom Rivet-Carnac
telling David Baker, presenter of BBC
Radio 4's Seriously, about
his conversation with Jeff Bezos:
It did seem to me that it was a
legacy issue for him, that
he wanted to be on the right side of history.
And you don't think it's just
greenwashing in the end?
How do you define that?
I mean, would you define greenwashing
if you said somebody got into this issue
because they wanted to improve
a reputation of a company or an individual?
Actually, that's fine. Right?
As long as they do something
meaningful and deliver a major outcome.
Protecting the planet is what
Jeff Bezos wants to be part
of his legacy - the achievements of his
life that will continue after he dies.
In other words, Bezos wants to be
on the right side of history -
judged to have acted correctly
or morally by future generations.
Ultimately though, it's real
action on climate change
that counts, not just greenwashing.
Do you know this new expression, Georgina?
Well, I know that whitewashing
means trying to hide the truth
about something.
Right - so greenwashing means
trying to make people believe that
your company is doing more to protect
the environment than it really is.
Well, with so many achievements
already behind him, I'm sure
Jeff has made his grandparents
very proud - which reminds me of
your quiz question, Neil.
Ah yes, I asked Georgina
what happened when the car
Jeff Bezos and his grandad, Lawrence were
fixing accidentally rolled downhill.
I thought it was c)
that Jeff lost all his hair.
Was I right?
No, you were wrong, I'm
afraid Georgina.
The correct answer was that b) -
his grandfather lost his thumb.
Ok, Neil
let's recap the vocabulary,
starting with customer experience -
a customer's feelings about their
experience with a business.
If you put something at the heart of
things, you make it the most important part.
Web traffic is the number of people
visiting a website.
Your legacy means all your life
achievements that will continue after
your death.
Someone who is on the right side
of history will be judged positively
by future generations.
And finally, greenwashing is when you
pretend that your company
is doing more to protect
the environment than it really is.
That's all for our peek
inside the brain of the world's richest man.
Join us again next time
when we'll be discussing another
trending topic. Bye for now!
Goodbye!
Hello and welcome to
6 Minute English. I'm Neil.
This is programme where in just
six minutes we discuss an interesting topic
and teach some related English vocabulary.
Joining me to do this is Rob.
Hello.
Now Rob, we know your main job
is to work here at BBC Learning English
but do you have a second job?
There's no time for two jobs
Neil, but if there was, I think I'd
take photographs and sell them.
I do love photography so i might as well make
some money from it.
Good thinking, Rob!
And having a second job,
particularly one that involves using your
skills and allows you to follow
your interests, is called a side hustle.
Yes, a side hustle.
It's something more and more of us are
involved with these days.
And that's what we'll be talking about
shortly.
Well, my side hustle should
be quiz master,
because i'm always asking questions
and today is no exception.
According to the employee ratings website
Glassdoor, which job is thought to be the
best to have in the UK this year?
Is it a) a software engineer,
b) a teacher, or,
c) an audit manager.
Hmm, well, I suspect b) a teacher.
Well, you'll just have to wait until
the end of the programme to find out.
But let's talk more about side
hustles - or a second job.
For some people having two
jobs is a necessity - a
way to make ends meet.
That means 'having just enough
money to pay for the things you
need'.
That's true but it now seems that
more people want to put their skills and
passions into practice to make
extra money.
According to research by Henley Business
School around one in four
workers run at least one side-hustle
business, half of which were started in
the past two years.
Those aged 25 to 34 are most likely
to be involved with 37%
thought to run a sideline of some kind.
A sideline also describes an extra
job you do alongside your main job.
BBC Radio 5 Live spoke to someone whose
side hustle was so satisfying
that it turned into her day job.
Here is Elspbeth Jackson,
founder of Ragged Life, to explain why:
It's a different environment entirely because
you're leaving essentially a very
regular wage that you'd get
the same amount in month after month,
you can put aside savings,
the same amount every month
and you have that certain amount of security.
But now I don't think I could go back
to one of these big companies because
you'd essentially be sacrificing the flexibility,
which is something I've become very
accustomed to now.
Things have worked out well for Elspeth.
But there were risks - for example,
leaving behind the security - the safety -
of a regular job and of course, a regular income.
Elspeth liked making rag rugs.
This has given her flexibility in her life
and returning to work at a big company would
be sacrificing that.
That means 'giving something up
or going without it'.
And for Elspeth, her side hustle
has become a full-time job
and she's become accustomed to
her lifestyle.
It's become familiar or normal.
The BBC also spoke to Becci Mae Ford,
who works some of the time
for a telecommunications company
to pay the bills, but spends the rest
of her time developing her own
crafting company Ellbie Co.
How did she find having two jobs?
I think it just gives me creative balance,
and obviously working for the telecoms firm,
it gets me out of the house
and gets me to meet people in a
social environment.
It can be difficult to juggle the
two though definitely.
It's definitely a grind.
It's a lot harder than people think
it's going to be.
So Becci implies that it's not
always easy to have a side hustle.
The benefit for her is the creative
balance - a good mix of doing
office-based work, regular tasks and
a routine with working creatively, making
things and getting pleasure from it.
But juggling - or balancing these two
things is difficult and she described her
side hustle as sometimes being a
grind - hard work, tiring
and occasionally boring.
But overall, it does make her happy.
Now something that would make me
happy is to give you the answer to today's
quiz question.
Earlier I asked you, according
to the employee ratings website Glassdoor,
which job is thought to be the best
to have in the UK this year?
Is it... a) a software engineer,
b) a teacher, or, c) an audit manager?
Yes and I said b) a teacher -
always the best job in the world!
Sadly not, Rob.
Apparently, it is c) an audit manager
that is considered to be the best job to
have this year.
Audit managers are responsible
for organizing and overseeing internal audits.
The result was based on three factors:
average annual base salary,
the current number of job openings,
and job satisfaction, according
to ratings shared by employees on
the website over the past 12 months.
So sounds like an interesting job
for a side hustle, but
before I head off for a career change,
let's remind ourselves of the main vocabulary
we've discussed, starting with
to 'make ends meet'.
When we make ends meet we
have just enough money to pay for the
things we need.
Next, we mentioned a sideline,
which describes an extra job you do
alongside your main job.
Then we had sacrificing that means
giving up something important or
'going without something'.
Accustomed is a word to mean
'usual or normal'.
If you get accustomed to doing something,
it becomes the normal way of doing it -
it becomes familiar.
We also talked about the expression
'creative balance'.
That describes getting the best mix of
doing creative and uncreative tasks.
And finally, 'grind' describes doing
something that is tiring, difficult,
sometimes boring and involves lots of effort.
Well this program has not been
a grind, Rob.
It's been six minutes of pleasure.
Don't forget you can learn more
English with us on our website
bbclearningenglish.com.
Bye for now.
Bye.