Lekcja 18: The small companies and the giants

However, it is the small companies who are creating most of the new jobs. As big corporations downsize, merge, acquire, and adjust to competition and economic uncertainty, smaller companies are moving faster to overcome these difficulties.

Small businesses are usually much more flexible with their employees than large corporations. The big companies thrive on organization and leave little room for personal flexibility. Moreover, small businesses offer the advantage of being able to provide employees with more responsibility and more significant roles in the company. This is especially attractive to career-minded, upwardly mobile employees who are interested in gaining experience quickly. Yet, there is a downside that we should be aware of. Promotion in small companies might prove to be impossible as there may be no chance to climb the career ladder due to a flat company structure. Therefore, some jobs may be dead-end-jobs.

Small businesses also have an uncanny ability to spot what their customers want and to bring those products to the market quickly. Large corporations aim for economies of scale. Small businesses aim for efficiency. The ability of small businesses to react quickly and directly to customers may be one of the most effective weapons over large corporations. Wading through cumbersome bureaucracy seems to be the biggest burden of large companies.

Big might seem more reliable, firm and powerful, yet at the same time it can be cold and valueless. I chose small and have done so for the past 13 years.

Word-of-the-week

track record – all the achievements or failures that someone or something has had in the past (historia osoby/przedsiębiorstwa)

Glossary:

Retain – to keep or continue to have something (zatrzymać)

Remuneration – to pay someone for work or services (wynagrodzenie)

thrive on – to grow, develop or be successful (dobrze się rozwijać, prosperować)

upwardly mobile – moving or being able to move to a higher social class (zyskać lepszą pozycję społeczną)

uncanny – difficult or impossible to explain (niesamowity, zadziwiający, zagadkowy)

weapons – any object used in fighting or war (broń)

wading – to walk with difficulty through water (brnąć przez coś)

cumbersome – awkward because of being large, heavy or ineffective (niewygodny, nieporęczny, nieefektywny)

Complete the gaps with words from the text.

1. The political candidate managed to …………….. the lead in the presidential campaign.

2. The company ……………. thanks to a good economy.

3. John was offered a high …………….because of his experience.

4. He took some equipment which was ………………… and proved difficult to fit in the car.

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