English, baby!

Laid Off

Date: Oct 09 2001

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

The September 11th attacks in New York City have caused many Americans to lose their jobs. The airline industry is one that is suffering very badly.
The reason for this is that less people are flying. Airports are operating at 80% normal capacity.
One my friends was a flight attendant for United Airlines. She was new to the company, so she was one of the first people laid off. Listen to me tell Migs about it below.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Miguel

John

Miguel: What’s going on with Anne and the whole airline thing?

John: Well, she officially got her notice that she’s laid off.

Miguel: So, she’s not going to be a stewardess anymore?

John: Nope. She has to move on to other things. I think she wants to be a teacher now. A lot of her friends are, are pretty upset about getting laid off but, uh, she, she’s kind of happy about it. She was looking to do other things anyway.

Miguel: Did she get laid off because she hasn’t been working there very long, or why did they choose her?

John: Yeah, they chose pretty much anyone that has started in the last couple of years. Uh, the people with the most seniority, uh, got to stay and the younger people had to go.

Miguel: So, was she, like, one of a hundred that got laid off or were there, like, thousands or what?

John: I think all the airlines or most of the major airlines cut twenty percent of their staff and, uh, United was the same way. She worked for United. They cut about twenty percent, which is about twenty thousand people and she was one of those.

Miguel: That is amazing. Twenty thousand people lose their jobs. Oh, and more than that because of all the airlines.

John: Not only all the airlines, but all of the companies that are affected now by this whole thing. There’s, there’s hundreds of thousands of people that are out of work now.

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Discussion

This is a pretty serious discussion between Migs and I. Many of our conversations include jokes, but not this one. We are very worried about those people without jobs, including our friends.
The U.S. economy had been strong for several years. Now, as we enter into a war against terrorism, we are facing many challenges. Companies are being very careful and finding a job is much harder now.
How is the economy in your country right now? Is it on an up-swing or down-swing? Share your thoughts at the Life Goes On message board.
Your American Friend,
John