Lifestyle in Britain. Дворжец О.С. - 122 стр.

     work. So, Barbara, when do you think                of filing cabinets and a few potted plants to
     you work best?                                      liven things up, seems the way things have
B:   Well, I work best, I’m more alert first             always been.
     thing in the morning. In the evening I              Things are changing though, and for one
     tend to slow down. I think I work best              good reason – cost. It’s expensive to have
     when I’m working with people who                    an office building on a prime site in a
     are prepared to work with you, not                  modern city. The price of land in city cen-
     against you. People who don’t have                  tres is incredibly high. It costs a lot to keep
     their own agenda.                                   the building clean and heated or air-
P:   Yes, indeed. Now, these days many                   conditioned, and there is general mainte-
     offices are open plan, aren’t they,                 nance and repairs that have to be paid for.
     unlike in the past, when employees                  So more and more companies are turning
     usually each had their own room. But                to the ‘virtual office’.
     of course, everyone still has their own             ‘What’s that?’ you may well ask. Well, on
     desk or workstation. So, Barbara,                   arriving at work, instead of going straight
     how do you like to organize your                    to your own desk, you check in, rather like
     workplace?                                          checking into a hotel, and then you request
B:   I’m very organized. I have to have a                a workstation. In effect, this is your desk
     place for everything and everything                 for a certain time, and it won’t be the same
     in its place. I can’t work in confusion.            one every time. You are allocated a free
     I don’t thrive under stress, which is               desk for a fixed time, and you take your
     very difficult in the legal profession              possessions out of a locker and carry them
     because everything does tend to have                to the workstation you have been given.
     a time limit on it, so you’re constantly            When you have finished, you take your
     under this pressure of things having                possessions back to the locker and the desk
     to be done in a certain time period,                is ready for the next lucky worker.
     you know, and I like to keep very or-               Not surprisingly, companies and their ac-
     ganized and know what things have to                countants love the idea. Accountants know
     be done. … I feel if you take care of               that they are saving a lot of money by
     the little things, big things don’t be-             spending less on office equipment, heating
     come a problem, and this is very often              and lighting. Employees are much less en-
     a problem in offices. They don’t like               thusiastic. You’ve lost your space, so the
     to give you the time to take care of the            office is even more impersonal. You can’t
     small, mundane things that make an                  leave anything lying around. If you’re in the
     office run smoothly. They just want                 office at peak times, you can even find
     you to kind of get in and start working             yourself without a desk and working stand-
     and sometimes you need to organize                  ing up.
     and see what’s ahead, and look at the               Another new form of working – telework-
     calendar for next week, and worry                   ing – is more popular with staff because,
     about what’s coming up. And then I                  for one thing, they don’t have to travel to
     find things tend to look smooth, start-             work. It’s also a way for the company to
     ing from kind of small up.                          economise because staff work from home ,
                                                         providing their own office, light, heat and
Tapescript 4                                             shelter. They keep in touch with the office
                                                         and clients by computer, fax and tele-
Presenter: Do you really want to work in an              phone. Usually the company will provide
office? No? Well, you’re certainly not alone.            this equipment and pay for the necessary
The traditional office has changed little in the         connections to its own computer. Many
last hundred years. Oh, yes, there have been             workers enjoy the flexibility they have
changes in technology but the idea of an of-             over how they organize the working day,
fice with a desk for each person and a number            and the escape from daily commuting, but

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