ESL Podcast 380 – Hiring Temp Workers

Bethany: I just talked to Steve about hiring replacements¹ for Cyril, who quit last month and for Megan, who is leaving at the end of this week. Do you know what he told me? He doesn’t want to hire permanent replacements. He wants to make do with temps!

Enrique: I can see it from Steve’s perspective. The economy isn’t so good right now and maybe he’s not sure if we can afford full-time² replacements.

Bethany: But how am I supposed to staff the office to cover all of the work that needs to be done with temps!

Enrique: Don’t undervalue temps. Many of them are very skilled and you may be surprised at how well they do. I should know. I worked as a temp right after graduating from college.

Bethany: You did? I didn’t know that. But you went to a great school. I’m surprised you had trouble landing a full-time job.

Enrique: Actually, I was offered a full-time job before I graduated, but I turned it down. I decided³ I wanted to test the waters in a few different companies before deciding on where I wanted to work. In retrospect⁴, it was the best thing I could have done.

Bethany: You didn’t miss the job security?

Enrique: Yeah, I did, but there are other perks⁵ to working as a temp. I got offered permanent jobs with two of the companies I temped for. That’s how I got my first full-time job. Working there was the best way to get my foot in the door.

Bethany: Well, thanks for the fresh perspective. Maybe working with temps won’t be so bad.

Enrique: I hope not. And if they get out of line, just tell me and I’ll set them straight.

Bethany: Yeah, right.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 replacements   

n.代替( replacement的名词复数 )；替换的人[物]；替代品；归还

参考例句：

• They infiltrated behind the lines so as to annoy the emery replacements. 他们渗透敌后以便骚扰敌军的调度。 来自辞典例句
• For oil replacements, cheap suddenly looks less of a problem. 对于石油的替代品来说，价格变得无足轻重了。 来自互联网

2 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

5 perks   

额外津贴，附带福利，外快( perk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perks offered by the firm include a car and free health insurance. 公司给予的额外待遇包括一辆汽车和免费健康保险。
• Are there any perks that go with your job? 你的工作有什么津贴吗？