Business Spotlight - Issue 12 2023

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BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT-
MOMENTE
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EDITORIAL
US
“So this is Christmas,

and what have you done?”
— the opening line of the 1971 song for peace “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)”
by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
The Imagine Peace

Tower permanent light
installation by Yoko Ono,
since 2007, Reykjavik,
Iceland
N
ormally in my editorials, I write about our cover story. I find a common theme and
explain what binds the whole issue together. This month, however, I’m not doing
Titelillustration: Georg Lechner; Titelfoto: Stocksy United; Fotos: Artic Images/Alamy Stock Photo; privat
that. Instead, I’m going to write about one short article and a message that binds all
of us together.
As 2023 comes to an end, the war in Ukraine continues. The powder keg that is the Middle
East has exploded (again). There have been military offensives in the Caucasus and Africa, and
rising tension in the Balkans. Democracy and peace are under attack or threat. On pages 6–7,
you can read how the world has become a more dangerous place.
To illustrate that article, we’ve chosen a photograph that doesn’t show death and destruc-
tion, but a message of hope. In December 1969, during the Vietnam War, peace activists John
Lennon, of The Beatles, and his wife, Yoko Ono, rented billboards in cities around the world
bearing a Christmas message of peace. Many people understood their message, although
some said it was naive. Over half a century later, it is still relevant, naive or not.
For the team at Business Spotlight, showing a message of hope was the only way to go. At
year’s end, we would like to wish you a happy and peaceful holiday season — no matter
what or how you choose to celebrate. Love your neighbor, be kind, peace is the answer.
editorial Ukraine [ju(kreIn] billboard

, redaktioneller , [wg. Aussprache] , Plakatwand
Beitrag
powder keg holiday season
issue [(ISu:] , Pulverfass , Festtage
JUDITH GILBERT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
, hier: Ausgabe
tension , Spannung judith.gilbert@zeit-sprachen.de
EDITORIAL 12/2023 Business Spotlight 3

CONTENTS
12/2023
TRENDS
6 The Big Picture E
A dangerous world
18
8 Names and News EM+ 
The latest from the business world
10 Bits and Bytes E
News and numbers on the internet
11 Innovation M 
Health and green cities
12 Profile M
Simon Beckerman — creator of online
communities for Gen Z
14 Profile M Finance
Averie Bishop — from beauty queen to Should employers disclose what they
political candidate pay? Should we discuss what we earn?
And does transparency help equality?
16 Head-to-Head A+ 
Are business trips still necessary?
18 Finance M 
Pay transparency at work
22 Society A
Japan’s population problem
24 Start-Up A+
Earth Plus is cleaning polluted soil
26 Business Fashion M
Dressing for success
29 What If? M
What if there were no greenwashing?
COMMUNICATION
30 Business Skills M+
How to win the race for talent
CAREERS

26
Business Fashion
33 Odd Jobs E+
The man who designs banknotes
34 Work Life M
Being a professional dad
What you wear
does matter!
REGULAR SECTIONS
14
Profile
38 Career Coach M+  3 Editorial Averie Bishop —
Understanding your team’s language 50 Quiz M from beauty queen
The business of to Democratic
LANGUAGE Christmas candidate in Texas
42 English for... E  51 Preview / Impressum
Airport security
44 Skill Up! M+ 
Health (and sickness) There is extra audio material related to
this article on Business Spotlight Audio
48 Test E MA + You can find exercises related to this
Assess your language skills article in Business Spotlight Plus
4 Business Spotlight 12/2023 CONTENTS

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Business Skills
How to find — and keep —

talented employees
Head-to-Head Career Coach Skill Up!
Are business trips Understanding your Talking about health
still necessary? team’s language and sickness
12
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E N G L I S H F O R YO U R W O R K A N D L I F E
AUDIO
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Improve your listening compre-
hension with 60 minutes of texts,
Business Skills
Finding talent —
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and keeping it!
English for... Metropolitan Mayhem Quiz
views on topics in the current
The language of Talking about The business
magazine.
airport security pay transparency of Christmas
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34
Work Life improve your English.
What happens when To subscribe, go to https://www.
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englisch
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Our monthly newsletter for business English teach-
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Online and social media
You can find more business English content at:

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30 www.instagram.com/business.spotlight_official
Language in Business Spotlight

➻ Articles use the style, spelling, punctuation and pronuncia-
tion of British English unless otherwise marked.
Illustrationen: Georg Lechner; Fotos: Stocksy United; dr
➻ Articles that use American style, spelling, punctuation and

pronunciation are marked “US”.
Approximately Approximately at Approximately at

Business Skills at CEF level A2 CEF levels B1–B2 CEF levels C1–C2
The race for talent — how to
CEF: European Framework of Reference for Languages
find it and how to keep it!
ifml.: informal word or phrase
vulg.: vulgar word or phrase; sl.: slang word or phrase
non-stand.: non-standard word or phrase
UK: chiefly British usage; US: chiefly North American usage
CONTENTS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 5

THE BIG PICTURE
A dangerous world
EASY
On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.

In late September 2023, Azerbaijan began a
military offensive in the Nagorno-Karabakh
region. And just weeks later, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that
his country was at war, after a shocking ter-
rorist attack by the militant Palestinian group
Hamas. These and many other conflicts have
brought destruction and suffering to the lives
of millions of people.
Data supports the impression that the world
is becoming more dangerous. According to the
United Nations, more than 110 million people
have been displaced by persecution, conflict or
human rights violations, the highest level of
displacement on record. And the Global Peace
Index (GPI), an analysis of conflicts around the
globe published by the Sydney-based Institute
for Economics and Peace, shows that 2022 was
the deadliest year since 1994 — the time of the
genocide in Rwanda and the worst year in the
history of the GPI. Sadly, 2023 may eclipse
both.
Why is all this happening now? Geopolitical
tensions have divided the international com-
munity, and this has encouraged those willing
to use violence to achieve their aims. Waging
war has also become easier with the falling cost
of technology, particularly drones. A decade
ago, militarized drones were something only
countries with big defence budgets could af-
ford. Today, small drones are cheap to make and
weaponize. According to the GPI, the number
of groups using drones increased by almost
a quarter in 2022, while the total number of
drone attacks rose by more than 40 per cent.
Ukraine [ju(kreIn] eclipse sth. [I(klIps]

, [wg. Aussprache] , etw. in den Schatten stellen
displace sb. tension

, jmdn. vertreiben , Spannung
persecution , Verfolgung wage war

, Krieg führen
human rights violation
Foto: Bettmann Archive/ Getty Images
, Menschenrechtsverletzung drone , Drohne
Times Square, New York City, 1969. During

the Vietnam War, peace activist John Lennon,
of The Beatles, and his artist wife, Yoko Ono,
announced their Christmas message of peace
on 12 signs in countries around the world
NAMES AND NEWS
“The most
successful
entrepreneurs I
know are optimistic.
It’s part of the job
description”
What
to eat at
midnight?
CATERINA FAKE (born in 1969),
American tech entrepreneur
and investor
FOOD INDUSTRY
entrepreneur [)QntrEprE(n§:]
Good night appetite , Unternehmer(in)
MEDIUM AUDIO
Three meals a day has long been a model for good skip sth. , etw. über-
health, but keeping that routine can be difficult, springen, auslassen
leading busy employees to skip breakfast or wolf wolf sth. down Comparison
down leftover meeting biscuits and call it “lunch”. [wUlf] (ifml.)
, etw. verschlingen TWO FOR ONE
Now, food manufacturers smell an opportunity to
increase sales — by creating a fourth meal of the day, cravings , Gelüste
The rate at which twins are born is rising.
with sleep-friendly late-night snacks. calorie-dense Today, one in every 42 babies is born a
, kalorienreich twin — about 1.6 million per year.
Sean Folkson, from the company Nightfood,
told the website Fooddive.com: “Cravings for peak , seinen Höhepunkt
erreichen The global twinning rate has increased by
calorie-dense foods peak at night, as does overall
overall , Gesamt- a third over the past four decades:
appetite. Willpower weakens. The global food and
beverage companies are well aware of all this, and willpower , Willenskraft 1980s: 9 per 1,000 births
I think they expect a massive category to develop beverage , Getränke 2020s: 12 per 1,000 births
around night-time snacking.” suggest sth. This is partly because fertility treatments
Some medical studies suggest that eating at night , etw. nahelegen tend to raise the likelihood of having
can actually disturb sleep, meaning the marketers walk a fine line twins. And it may also be a side effect of
, sich auf einem schmalen having children later in life. As mothers get
must walk a fine line. The challenge for the indus-
Grat bewegen; hier: mit older, the probability of having twins also
try is to find ingredients that do actually improve Umsicht agieren increases.
sleep but also taste good. Chris Peruzzi, from The
Foto: pidjoe, katrinaelena/iStock.com; ddp
ingredient [In(gri:diEnt] Source: Oxford University

Functional Chocolate Company, says: “Some of the , Zutat
ingredients we work with, like valerian root, are sim- valerian root twin , Zwilling fertility treatment
ply unpalatable. It took some creative food science [vE(lIEriEn] [f§:(tIlEti]
to … get the taste profile just right.” Like it or not, we , Baldrianwurzel twinning rate
, Fruchtbarkeits-
, Geburtenziffer von
can expect food companies to continue marketing unpalatable behandlung
Zwillingen
[Vn(pÄlEtEb&l]
snacks for the time between dinner and bed.
, ungenießbar
8 Business Spotlight 12/2023 TRENDS

PROFILE
People who’ve
seen too much
MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS
Starting a new job can be stressful, but on

Trevin Brownie’s first day, he ended up vom-
iting in revulsion. Brownie was a Facebook
moderator. His job was to watch the most
violent and graphic videos uploaded by the
platform’s nearly three billion users, and
remove them before anyone else saw them.
Watching a new video every 55 seconds or
so, he’d categorize them according to Face-
book’s content rules. Stan, the T. rex,
at Christie’s
A South African, Brownie was one of
many young Facebook moderators hired by
PALEONTOLOGY
Sama, a San Francisco-based outsourcing
company, to work in Nairobi, Kenya. He was
required to see dreadful things — includ- Fighting over fossils
ing, by his own estimate, over 1,000 videos MEDIUM AUDIO
of beheadings. This traumatic experience,
Brownie says, has deadened his feelings, Sotheby’s and Christie’s are well- most want to make some money
taking away part of his humanity. He’s now known auction houses. They usual- with them. This is highly controver-
one of 184 former moderators who are suing ly sell famous paintings, sculptures sial among paleontologists, many
Sama and Facebook’s parent company, Meta. and other artworks, but recently, of whom worry that valuable spec-
It’s the largest lawsuit of its kind in Kenya they’ve been selling some unex- imens will disappear into private
and could have global consequences for the pected items — dinosaur fossils. collections and be “lost” to science.
tens of thousands of moderators who pro- It is proving to be big business: in It’s not clear whether commer-
tect users from toxic content. Social media 2020, Christie’s sold “Stan”, an al- cial fossils really will be lost — a lot
companies are under increasing pressure to most-complete T. rex skeleton for a of private collectors are happy to
moderate the content on their networks, but record $31.8 million. make them available to scientists
at what cost is this work being done? In countries like China or South for study. It was revealed in 2022
Africa, fossils belong to the state, no that “Stan” had been bought by the
matter who owns the land where Abu Dhabi Department of Culture
they’re found. In America, however, and Tourism, who want to put the
property owners can do whatev- fossil in the Abu Dhabi Natural His-
er they want with the fossils, and tory Museum, due to open in 2025.
item , Artikel property , Eigentum; hier: reveal sth.

Grund(stück) , etw. enthüllen
fossil [(fQs&l]
, Fossilie paleontologist department
[)pÄliQn(tQlEdZIst] , hier: Ministerium
T. rex , Tyrannosaurus Rex
, Paläontologe/Paläontologin
Trevin due: be ~ to do sth.
skeleton [(skelItEn]
Brownie specimen [(spesEmIn] , etw. (planmäßig) tun sollen
, Skelett
at home in , Exemplar
Nairobi
review bombing
Fotos: FP via Getty Images; action press
vomit , sich erbrechen deaden sth.

, etw. abstumpfen, erster-
revulsion , Ekel, Abscheu
ben lassen
graphic , hier: grausam
sue sb./sth. [sju:]
, jmdn./etw. verklagen
This is when a review website, for books, films, etc., is flooded
billion , Milliarde(n)
with low ratings, regardless of the work’s quality. This sometimes
dreadful [(dredf&l] parent company
, schrecklich , Muttergesellschaft
happens if an author says something controversial.
beheading [bi(hedIN] lawsuit [(lO:su:t] review [ri(vju:]
, Enthauptung , Prozess , Rezension
TRENDS Business Spotlight 12/2023 9

BITS AND BYTES
EASY
People you (don’t) know

LinkedIn carried out A/B testing on more than 20 million users between 2015 and 2019, hoping to improve
how the platform worked. This accidentally became a social-engineering experiment. LinkedIn adjusted
its recommendation algorithm (“People you may know”), showing some users’ strong ties (people they’re
closely connected to) and weak ties (people they don’t know well). The results revealed that more job
opportunities come through acquaintances than through close friends.
237
is the median num-
ber of notifications
that US teens Game over
receive from phone
apps in a typical day, Fortnite developer Epic Games has
according to a study agreed to pay $245 million in refunds to
by the organization about 37 million parents in the US be-
Common Sense Me- cause their children spent money while
dia and the Universi- playing the game. Fortnite, a hugely
ty of Michigan. The teens popular video game, is free to download
engage with only about 46 and play but offers “in-game purchases”.
How to steal per day, thanks to blocking, When the parents found out their chil-
dren had spent money in the game with-
a car filtering and other tools.
out permission, they were not very hap-
However, about a quarter
Social media gets the blame of notifications arrived py — and neither was the Federal Trade
for many bad social trends during the schoolday, and Commission, which has fined the com-
— now, this even includes five per cent arrived at pany an additional $275 million.
car theft. Korean carmakers
night.
Kia and Hyundai are being
sued by 17 US cities because,
police say, their cars, which A/B testing tie , hier: Verbindung engage with sb./sth. purchase [(p§:tSEs] , Kauf
lack anti-theft technology, are , A/B-Test (Vergleich , hier: mit jmdm./etw.
acquaintance Federal Trade Commission
too easy to steal. But the car zweier Systemvarianten) interagieren
[E(kweIntEns] (US)
companies say the problem accidentally , Bekanntschaft sue sb. [sju:] , Bundeshandels-
is caused by people on Tik- , zufällig, unabsichtlich , jmdn. verklagen kommission
median , mittlere
Tok and Instagram who post adjust sth. refund fine sb./sth. , jmdn./etw.
notification
instructions on how to steal , etw. korrigieren, anpassen , Rückerstattung mit einer Geldstrafe belegen
, Benachrichtigung
the cars.
crypto-forensics assets , Vermögenswerte

, mit Kryptotransaktionen
The rivals befasste Forensik
Chainalysis and TRM Labs are two of just a few crypto-forensics companies. They help governments and banks by
analysing blockchain data to trace transactions and identify financial crime that involves digital assets.
Located in Located in
NEW YORK CITY SAN FRANCISCO
Started in Started in
2014 2018
Latest valuation Latest valuation

Chainalysis $8.6 BILLION $600 MILLION TRM Labs

INNOVATION
HEALTH
Make me thin
MEDIUM AUDIO
The world is getting heavier. About two-

fifths of all people are overweight or obese
— by 2035, it could be more than half. This is
worrying, as obesity is associated with lots
of health problems, including diabetes, heart
disease and some forms of cancer, along with
the social stigma of being overweight.
Many treatments — ranging from useless
to dangerous — claim to help people lose
weight. Now, there may be an effective solu-
tion. Semaglutide, developed by the Danish
company Novo Nordisk, has been shown to
lead to weight loss of about 15 per cent. It’s
already on sale in the US and other countries,
and a rival version, said to be even more ef- Green shades cooling a
street in Spain GREEN CITIES
fective, is on its way. These are known as
GLP-1 drugs because they mimic the role
of the GLP-1 hormone, which increases the Keeping it cool
feeling of satiety. The market for them could MEDIUM AUDIO
reach $150 billion by 2031 — almost as big as
the market for cancer drugs today. In a warming world, cities are feeling the heat. Trees
However, the long-term effects are still and other greenery are an effective way to cool down
unknown, and that’s not the only problem. urban areas. However, as parks and public gardens are
Ozempic, a lower-dose version, is a diabetes expensive, they tend to be more common in wealthi-
drug that’s being used “off-label” for weight er neighbourhoods.
loss. Its popularity has caused a shortage for The Spanish company Singular Green is taking a
those who need it to manage their blood different approach, by integrating nature into exist-
sugar. ing urban architecture with vertical gardens, green
roofs and other designs. The company’s projects are
obese [EU(bi:s] mimic sth. lower-dose
found all over Spain and include the country’s larg-
, adipös , etw. simulieren , niedriger dosiert
est vertical garden, at the Vitoria-Gasteiz conference
obesity [EU(bi:sEti] satiety [sE(taIEti] off-label , hier: außer-
, Adipositas , Sättigung halb seiner Zulassung centre. In crowded cities, gardens must make the best
use of limited space. Green shades, for example, are
diabetes [)daIE(bi:ti:z] billion , Milliarde(n) shortage
, [wg. Aussprache] , Knappheit canopies supporting a bed of plants and flowers.
long-term , Langzeit-
These are suspended across the gaps between build-
ings to help absorb heat radiation while providing
shade at street level.
Fotos: Singular Green pr ,Ivan Ozerov / Stocksy United
Heatwaves are most dangerous to those who can

least afford to protect themselves. Green infrastruc-
ture that’s adapted to urban settings makes cities
cooler as well as more equal.
greenery shade , hier: suspended: be ~

, Grün, Begrünung (Schatten-)Dach , (herab)hängen
neighbourhood canopy [(kÄnEpi] gap , Lücke

, hier: Wohnviertel , Vordach, Über-
radiation
dachung
approach , Strahlung
, Vorgehensweise bed , hier: Fläche
setting , Umfeld
TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 11

PROFILE
g o a l i s t o
“Our community
create a le want to
th a t p e o p
e p a r t o f ”
b
Simon Beckerman
Building communities
Erst Second-Hand-Shopping, jetzt Lieferservice für Essen: Der Unternehmer Simon Beckerman schafft
Apps, die bei jungen Menschen einen Nerv treffen.
Von RACHEL PREECE

MEDIUM
S
imon Beckerman founded Depop, Gen Z’s favourite “Try to find something you think you could be passionate about,
peer-to-peer e-commerce platform for second-hand and then try to find the passion in that thing,” he says. Another
fashion, in 2011. An estimated 90 per cent of Depop’s piece of advice is to optimize for future technology. “The idea
active users were under the age of 26 in 2021. The behind Depop was that there was going to be a generation of
same year, Etsy paid $1.6 billion to buy Depop — the company’s people who were mostly acquainted with using mobile,” he says.
largest-ever acquisition. “When we started Depop, apps were [in their] very early stages.”
After that, with a net worth of more than £55 million, Becker- According to the business-data company Crunchbase, DELLI
man could have taken early retirement, but his success motivat- has already raised $10.5 million in financing. As always, commu-
ed him to venture into a new field with the DELLI app. He told nity is central to what Beckerman does. That’s why he’s unafraid
the magazine Courier: “Thinking about what to do next, I thought of competition, even from big players with deep pockets. “As an
I’d really like to contribute in the food world.” entrepreneur, my job is to create a company that has a USP that
Depop reinvented the way young people buy and sell clothes. isn’t replicable with money or features,” he says. “Our goal is to
Now, DELLI is aiming to do something similar for food deliv- create a community that people want to be part of.”
eries. The app lets independent businesses and chefs sell their
own food creations. It has adopted the fashion world’s “drop” found sth. , etw. gründen up-and-coming: the ~ mobile (UK)
principle: release a product for a limited period to generate hype. , Nachwuchstalente , hier: Handys
From his experience with Depop, Beckerman knows the mar- launch sth. [lO:ntS] stage , hier: Entwick-
net worth
ket for his new app might not exist until the platform is in place. , etw. lancieren, auf dem lungsphase
, (Rein-)Vermögen
“There wasn’t a cohort of people selling their clothes in this way, Markt einführen
raise sth.
venture into sth.
but when provided [with] the tool to do so, they embraced it endorse sth. , etw. unter- , etw. aufbringen
, sich in etw. hineinwagen
stützen; hier: promoten
and made it their own,” he told The Face. “My passion lies within entrepreneur
chef [Sef]
building communities,” he said, “for discovering new talent, the tech incubator [)QntrEprE(n§:]
, Küchenchef(in)
[)tek (INkjubeItE] , Unternehmer(in)
up-and-coming, those who challenge the status quo.” adopt sth. , Technologie-
USP (unique selling
, etw. übernehmen Gründerzentrum
proposition/point)
From Milan to London release sth. with an eye on... , Alleinstellungsmerkmal
Beckerman was born in Milan and began his career there. In , etw. herausbringen , mit ... im Visier
replicable [(replIkEb&l]
1998, he and his brother founded a creative agency for web de- cohort business venture , un- , replizierbar
sign and branding. In 2001, they expanded, launching the much- , Kohorte; hier: Haufen ternehmerisches Vorhaben
features
loved People in Groove (PIG), an independent magazine focused embrace sth. , etw. acquainted: be ~ with sth. , hier: Ausstattung
bereitwillig aufgreifen , mit etw. vertraut sein
on fashion, music and lifestyle. Later, they set up Retrosuper-
future, a sunglasses brand that’s been endorsed by Lady Gaga,
Rihanna, Snoop Dogg and others.
Then, Beckerman founded Depop. The platform started life SIMON BECKERMAN
with the support of an Italian tech incubator called H-FARM.
Foto: Dave Benett/Getty Images
In 2012, with an eye on expansion, Beckerman moved Depop’s Known as: entrepreneur, CEO Book tip: “I would recommend
headquarters to London and hasn’t looked back since. Projects: PIG magazine, Retro- The Hard Thing About Hard
superfuture sunglasses brand, Things, by Ben Horowitz, to
Depop, DELLI anyone doing a start-up”
Future-focused
Beckerman has tried many things over the years, but he told entrepreneur [)QntrEprE(n§:] CEO (chief executive officer)
GQ that he’s always considered his business ventures carefully. , Unternehmer(in) , Geschäftsführer(In)

PROFILE
Averie Bishop
Brains,
beauty and
cowgirl boots
Sie ist Juristin, Influencerin und die erste
asiatischstämmige Beauty-Queen in Texas. Jetzt
geht Averie Bishop in die Politik.
Von RICHARD MOTE

MEDIUM US
D
espite her crown and white sash, the question
kept coming: “Are you really Miss Texas?” It
was mainly older white people who strug-
gled with the idea of a Miss Texas who was
not white and blonde. In 2022, Averie Bishop became
the first Asian-American winner in the beauty pageant’s
85-year history.
Bishop personifies the rapid diversification of this
iconic (and conservative) state. Since 2004, Texas has
been “majority minority” — meaning most of its resi-
dents are people of color. The latest census figures show
the state’s population as 40.2 percent Latino, 39.3 per-
cent white, 11.6 percent Black and 5.1 percent Asian.
Totally Texas
Bishop was born and raised in McKinney, just north
of Dallas. Her father was a fifth-generation Texan; her
mother immigrated to Texas from the Philippines —
each of them worked two jobs to support the family. “I
was raised to be very independent ... to just go on my
way and forge that path for myself without leaning on
anybody else,” Bishop told The Washington Post.
Beauty pageants are big events in Texas, which is
nicknamed the “sash state.” Bishop reluctantly became
a beauty queen for the prize money. Competing in var-
“Any Texan can ious pageants has earned her about $90,000 in scholar-
ship money, which has helped her pay for college. She
look like me” sash , Schärpe

beauty pageant
[(pÄdZEnt] (US)
forge sth.
, etw. schmieden;
hier: einschlagen,
reluctantly
, widerstrebend
compete in sth.
finden
, Schönheitswett- [kEm(pi:t]
Fotos: PR, Marc Montoya
bewerb lean on sb. , sich auf , in etw. antreten

jmdn. stützen
iconic [aI(kA:nIk*] scholarship
, kultig, symbol- nicknamed: be ~ , Stipendium
trächtig , den Spitznamen
haben *This symbol
raise sb. marks standard US
, jmdn. großziehen pronunciation.
14 TRENDS
studied law and human rights at Southern Methodist
University (SMU).
Typically, Miss Texas winners are apolitical women
who smile a lot and don’t say anything controversial.
Bishop, of course, was never likely to be typical. The ti-
tle gave her a platform, and she wasn’t going to waste
it — she has about one million followers on social me-
dia. As Miss Texas, Bishop also traveled more than any
of her predecessors, giving speeches in places as far
away as Los Angeles, New York and even England. She
drove more than 45,000 miles (about 72,000 kilometers)
across her home state and saw a Texas that looks much
more like her than the state’s Republican leaders would
like to believe.
Diversity and politics

For Bishop, the election of President Donald Trump, in
2016, was something of a defining moment. “I realized
there just needs to be more representation of people of
color,” she said in an interview for an oral-history project
at SMU. However, while young Texans speak of the im-
portance of building a society that includes everybody,
the state government, led by Governor Greg Abbott, has
been outlawing anything to do with diversity — from
banning books on race and sexuality to closing down
diversity training programs at universities.
So, after her years of lobbying from the outside, Bish-
op is now aiming to go inside the system, by running for
a seat in the Texas state legislature. As a beauty queen
or a political candidate, her message is the same. “Any
Texan can look like me, or they can look like you, too,”
she told CBS Texas. “And when we can progress to-
ward that mentality, collectively and together, we will
see a decrease in hatred and violence toward minority
communities.”
apolitical oral history run for sth.

, unpolitisch , durch Zeitzeu- , hier: für etw.
g(inn)en verifizierte kandidieren
controversial
Geschichte
, umstritten, state legislature
kontrovers outlaw sth. [(ledZEsleItS&r*]
, etw. ächten, (US)
waste sth. , hier:
verbieten , hier: Parlament
etw. ungenutzt lassen
ban sth. *This symbol
predecessor
, etw. verbieten marks standard
, Vorgänger(in)
US pronunciation.
AVERIE BISHOP
Born: McKinney, Texas Beauty pageants won:
Age: 27 Miss Lufkin (East Texas),
Education: studied law Miss Carrollton (Dallas
and human rights at suburbs), Miss Dallas and
Southern Methodist Uni- Miss Texas
versity Politics: Democratic Party
candidate for Texas House
District 112
beauty pageant [(pÄdZEnt] (US) suburb , Vorort
, Schönheitswettbewerb
TRENDS 15
HEAD-TO-HEAD
Are business trips

Illustration: smartboy10/iStock.com; Fotos: privat
still necessary?
In vielen Branchen sind Geschäftsreisen ein fester Bestandteil des Arbeitsalltags.
Können digitale Treffen ein Ersatz dafür sein? Zwei Meinungen.
Interviews: MELITA CAMERON-WOOD

ADVANCED AUDIO PLUS

YES “Nothing can replace
physically being there” NO “The climate emergency means
we need to do things differently”
Whether it’s to check up on clients or at- crucial [(kru:S&l] If you’re taking six trips a year, five of pointless
tend a major event, travel is a crucial part , wichtig, wesentlich them are probably pointless. The ease , sinnlos, nutzlos
of many jobs. Of course, technology is invested: become ~ in sth. of air travel has encouraged businesses ease , Mühelosigkeit
great when travel isn’t possible, but noth- , sich mit etw. emotional to have employees scattered around the scattered
verbunden fühlen , verstreut, verteilt
ing can replace physically being there. world, but this isn’t a sustainable business
If your company sells products, then technical , hier: fachlich model. It just results in regular long-haul sustainable
the ability to meet the creators, under- on the spot , vor Ort flights. , zukunftsfähig, tragfähig
stand the price point and material choices squeeze sth. into sth. Just because we fly for one thing and long-haul flight
, etw. in etw. hinein- , Langstreckenflug
is so important. When you feel the de- justify it, then, we fly for everything. You
zwängen engagement
signers’ passion for the product, you be- don’t have to fly from London to Berlin,
packed , dicht, voll , hier: Termin
come more invested in it and more able to for instance. If most of your engagements
pass that passion on to your clients. delve into sth. , sich in are in Europe, all that travel would be onus [(EUnEs]
etw. hineingraben; hier: , Verpflichtung
While activities such as training ses- vordringen
possible without flying. When there are
ultimately , letztendlich
sions can be done online, they are much events like New York Fashion Week, local
bowels accommodation
more efficient in person — you can ask , Gedärme; hier: Inneres models could easily replace those who fly
, Unterkunft(smögli-
technical questions on the spot and get in. If you have a project with a foreign cli- chkeit)
hands-on , praktisch
immediate responses. Being in the same ent, why not meet them in person at the
bulk order well rested
room improves the workflow — there’s , Großauftrag, -bestellung start and the end, and do the rest online? , ausgeschlafen
no need to squeeze a call into someone’s Climate awareness is rising, so some mayor [meE]
impact sth.
already packed agenda. , sich auf etw. auswirken clients might be impressed by compa- , Bürgermeister(in)
There are also some tasks that simply nies with no-fly policies or at least no keynote speech
cannot be done virtually. For example, I domestic flights. The onus needs to be , Grundsatzrede
work in the fashion industry and go on on the employer to create a policy that is emergency , Notfall;
business trips to help our visual team to better for their employees and the plan- hier: Krise
set up displays in department stores. You et. Longer-lasting change needs to come
can’t delve into the bowels of the store- but, ultimately, habits are formed through
room via Teams — real support means choices rather than restrictions.
showing up. Train travel needs to be seen as a seri-
Especially in the current economic cli- ous alternative to flying. Sending workers
mate, it’s become even more important on early flights and expecting them to be
for businesses to be present for their cli- productive straight away isn’t realistic.
ents, not only supplying them with goods, Putting them on a train and giving them
but also offering guidelines and hands-on overnight accommodation means they’ll
assistance. In the fashion industry, there be well rested and productive the next day.
are still a lot of clients who won’t place Leading by example is important. Last
bulk orders without seeing the goods in year, London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, flew to
person. If brands stopped business travel, Buenos Aires to give a speech about cli-
that could negatively impact sales. mate change. How much more seriously
In certain industries, business travel is would we have taken him if he had sent
essential, but it’s important to consider a video of his keynote speech? He would
how you reach your destination. When- have missed the champagne reception,
ever possible, it’s good to take public but the climate emergency means we
transport and avoid flying. need to do things differently.
Mehr zu diesem Thema

ELLIOT HALIDU, UK area ANNA HUGHES is the hier kostenlos anhören!
www.business-
manager at Diesel director of Flight Free UK spotlight.de/
(https://hr.diesel.com/en/) (https://www.flightfree.co.uk) audio-gratis/12

FINANCE
18
Pay transparency
Say what you pay

Über Geld spricht man nicht? Weltweit ändert sich das
gerade. Denn transparente Gehaltsstrukturen sorgen
für mehr Zufriedenheit unter Angestellten — und
wirken Diskriminierung und Ungleichheit entgegen.
GERMANY AND EUROPE
Von TALITHA LINEHAN
Since 2017, Germany’s Pay Transparency
Act has aimed to close the gender pay gap
MEDIUM US AUDIO by allowing employees of companies with
200+ staff to know what their colleagues
earn. Companies with 500+ employees
must regularly review pay structures and
publish details on equal-pay policies.
The Federal Statistical Office of Germany
found that, in 2021, men still earned around
U
ntil recently, a question like “How much do you get 18 percent more than women, which is less
paid?” would have been widely considered taboo. than the 23 percent in 2006.
Times are changing, however, and younger workers Across the countries of the EU27, men’s
and women, in particular, have been calling for great- average hourly earnings were 12.7 percent
er pay transparency at work. An increasing number of people higher than women’s in 2021 — over six
have started sharing their salaries, in person and online, and put- weeks of salary. That’s why European Equal
ting pressure on employers to be more open about how much Pay Day, which was on November 15th in
2023, marks the day when women symbol-
workers are paid and how salaries are calculated. The hope is that
ically stop being paid for that year.
more transparency about pay will lead to more income equality
and trust in the workplace. gap review sth. [ri(vju:]
A 2022 study by the analytics company Visier, called the Pay , Lücke; hier: Gefälle , etw. überprüfen
Transparency Pulse Report, found that 79 percent of U.S. em-
ployees want some form of pay transparency — and 32 percent
even want total transparency, in which all employees’ salaries
are publicized. Openness about pay has already become a factor
in an employer’s appeal in the job market: More than two-thirds
of employees say they would leave their company to work for
one with greater pay transparency, even if the pay were the same.
“Over half the workers
Andrea Derler, principal of research and customer value at Visier,
said in a statement that the data signaled “a significant shift from in the U.S. are subject to
pay secrecy”
the traditional belief that pay is a taboo subject in our personal
and professional lives.”
In response to the pay transparency movement, several laws
Illustration: Georg Lechner
have been enacted in the U.S. requiring employers to include

salary ranges in job advertisements. Colorado was the first, in
appeal , Attraktivität shift , Wandel
2021. Since then, similar laws have been created, in New York,
California and Washington. On top of this, companies in the U.S. principal , Direktor(in) enact sth. , etw. erlassen
and many other countries have implemented their own policies research , Forschung salary range , Gehaltsspanne

on pay transparency, with some going as far as to pub-
licize the salaries of all their employees.
Changing a culture of secrecy

The pay-transparency trend represents a dramatic
shift in workplace culture, which for decades has
maintained an atmosphere of secrecy around pay.
A 2021 report by the Institute for Women’s Policy
Research (IWPR) said almost half of U.S. employers
Pay transparency has
discouraged or banned the sharing of salary informa-
tion, and many had a formal pay-secrecy policy, even
though such policies are illegal. The 1935 National
a positive impact on
Labor Relations Act protects the right of employees
to discuss their pay but, as Shengwei Sun, IWPR sen-
employees’ perception of
ior research associate, told the BBC, this law is rarely
enforced: “We still find that over half the workers in
the United States are subject to pay secrecy.”
trust, fairness and
Beyond the U.S., things are changing, too. In the
U.K., salary ranges are often included in job descrip-
job satisfaction
tions, providing a basis for negotiations. In March
2022, the British government started a pay transpar-
ency pilot program, aimed at enforcing public salary and discovered that a gender pay gap of almost $10,000 still ex-
information. isted. Apart from Buffer’s two founders, the average yearly salary
This is nothing new in Scandinavian countries, of its 57 male employees was $98,705, while the average salary
where policies of transparency mean other people’s of its 24 female employees was $89,205.
salaries are publicly accessible. In Sweden, Finland The issue wasn’t that women were being paid less than men
and Norway, citizens’ tax returns are available to to do the same job, but that over 61 percent of the male employ-
view upon request with few restrictions. Despite ees were at an “advanced” level, compared with a little more
this, however, it’s important to note that the gender than a third (37.5%) of the female employees. In discussing the
pay gap still exists. In fact, as recently as 2021, the numbers with the business magazine Fast Company, Buffer’s head
gap was wider in Sweden (11.2 percent) and Norway of communications and content, Hailley Griffis, said that bias
(14.3 percent) than in Romania (3.6 percent), for ex- might also have played a role in determining salaries, which were
ample, according to data from Eurostat. based in part on an applicant’s level of experience. “We realize
that’s a little vague, which is why we’re working hard to make
Transparency helps ‘experience’ more clear and defined,” she said. After employing
Nonetheless, there is no doubt that bias, whether more women in higher-paying roles and ensuring they advanced
conscious or unconscious, contributes to pay ine- within the company, Buffer announced last year that its gender
quality around the world. In the U.S., data from the pay gap had shrunk to just $568.
Census Bureau shows that, in 2021, white women
in America earned 82 cents for every dollar that men
earned, while Black women earned 63 cents, and His- maintain sth. negotiation formula , Formel
panic and Latina women just 58 cents for every dollar , etw. wahren [nI)ɡoUSi(eIS&n*]
founder , Gründer(in)
, Verhandlung
that white men earned. Despite rising awareness of secrecy [(si:krEsi]
issue [(ISu:] , Problem
, Verschwiegenheit; accessible , zugänglich
gender and minority-related pay gaps, they’ve been
auch: Heimlichtuerei advanced , hier: höher
very difficult to eliminate. Many managers believe tax return , (Lohn-)
ban sth. , etw. verbieten Steuererklärung applicant , Bewerber(in)
that transparency is probably the best protection
against various forms of bias. senior , hier: in leitender restriction vague [veIg] , unspezi-
Stellung , Einschränkung fisch, unkonkret
However, practical experience suggests that pay
research associate gap , Lücke; hier: Gefälle ensure sth. [In(SU&r*]
transparency may be only the first step in eliminat- , wissenschaftliche(r) , etw. sicherstellen
ing the pay gap. In 2013, in the hope of achieving fair- nonetheless , trotzdem
Mitarbeiter(in)
shrink , zurückgehen
ness and pay equality, the social media startup Buffer bias [(baIEs]
enforce sth.
, Voreingenommenheit
published the salaries of all of its employees online, , etw. durchsetzen * This symbol marks
along with the formula used to calculate salaries. Two Census Bureau [(bjUroU*] standard US pronunciation.
subject: be ~ to sth.
, Statistikamt
years later, however, the company analyzed its data , etw. unterliegen

Be prepared!
Studies have found that pay transparency has a pos- example, and training managers to answer pay-related questions
itive impact on employees’ perception of trust, fair- from employees. “Even if you think laws in New York City or
ness and job satisfaction around the world, and that Rhode Island or Colorado or California don’t apply to you, just
people are more likely to apply for roles that include know that these are the first of many to come,” Cassandra Rose,
salary ranges. However, in revealing how much they head of people at the lifestyle benefits marketplace Fringe, told
are offering potential new employees, companies CNBC. “They’re going to put pressure on other places. I advise
risk some negative fallout — including tension in the businesses get ahead of it before it’s a requirement you have to
workplace, losing employees who feel they are being race against.”
underpaid and even legal and reputational damage.
After publishing the salaries of its highest-paid stars
for the first time, in 2017, the BBC was accused of
gender bias because only a third of those on the list impact fallout obligation
were women, while the seven highest earners were , (Aus-)Wirkung , Nachwirkung(en) , Verpflichtung
all men. Although the BBC had to accept the justifia- perception tension adjustment
ble criticism, creating that transparency was the first , Wahrnehmung , Spannung(en) , Berichtigung
step to rectifying the inequality. apply for sth. accuse: ~ sb. of sth. apply to sb.
The advice to employers from those who have im- , sich für etw. bewerben , jmdm. etw. vorwerfen , für jmdn. gelten
plemented some form of pay transparency, either out role , hier: Position rectify sth. [(rektIfaI] race against sth.
, etw. berichtigen, , hier: etw. unter Zeit-
of choice or obligation, is to be prepared — by making reveal sth.
beheben druck erfüllen
any necessary adjustments to ensure pay equality, for , etw. offenlegen

SOCIETY
Ja
pa
po n’s
pu
p ro l at i
ble on
m
Where has everyone

gone? View of people
crossing a normally
busy street in Tokyo
Immer mehr alte und immer weniger junge Menschen: migration from other areas by people
Wer wissen will, welche dramatischen Folgen der who were already planning to start a
family. And even Nagi, a town in Okay-
demografische Wandel haben kann, muss nach Japan
ama Prefecture that became something
schauen. of a poster child for raising the num-
ber of births, has seen its birth rate fall
Von GAVIN BLAIR
slightly in recent years.
ADVANCED Japan is far from alone in having few-
er babies. The average fertility rate for
I
n 2022, the total number of Japanese people fell by nearly the OECD group of wealthy nations is
800,000. This official figure, released in July 2023, marks a 1.58 children per woman (2021), well be-
new unwelcome record for a nation sailing into unchart- low the replacement rate of 2.1 required
ed demographic territory — but on a course many other to maintain population numbers.
countries will follow. Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, Although Japan’s population started to
has called the trend a crisis and has promised to tackle the situa- fall before that of other countries — peak-
tion. But so far, national policies have failed to dent population ing in 2008 — declines in fertility rates
decline, although concerted efforts by a few small towns have have been more precipitous elsewhere,
had some effect. particularly in East Asia. Taiwan’s fertili-
The new data showed deaths hit a record high of more than ty rate in 2023 has been estimated at 1.09,
1.56 million while there were just 771,000 births in Japan dur- while neighbouring South Korea is only
ing 2022 — the first time the number of newborns has fallen be- slightly better, at 1.11.
low 800,000 since records began. Even an all-time high increase © Guardian News & Media, 2023
in foreign residents of more than ten per cent, to 2.99 million,
couldn’t halt a slide in the total population, which has declined
for 14 years in a row to 122.42 million in 2022. In January, Kishi-
da said that addressing the birthrate was “now or never” and he
warned: “Our nation is on the cusp of whether it can maintain
There are now more
its societal functions.”
A country grows old

gangsters in their 70s
Japan’s ageing population is already affecting nearly every as-
pect of society. More than half of all municipalities are classified
than in their 20s
as depopulated districts, schools are closing and more than 1.2
million small businesses have owners aged about 70 with no release sth. funeral service issue [(ISu:] , Thema,
, etw. veröffentlichen , Bestattungsdienst- Problem
successor. Television programmes are aimed at older audiences,
leistung
with the commercials full of offerings for funeral services, incon- uncharted allowance , Beihilfe
, unkartiert; hier: neu pad , Vorlage, Binde
tinence pads and supplements to relieve aching joints. GDP (gross domestic
Japan’s underworld has not escaped unscathed either: a ma- tackle sth. supplement product) , BIP (Brutto-
, etw. anpacken , Nahrungsergänzungs- inlandsprodukt)
jority of yakuza are over 50 and there are now more gangsters in mittel
dent sth. , etw. verbeu- subsidy [(sVbsEdi]
their 70s than in their 20s. Meanwhile, “senior porn” is a growing len; hier: verringern joint , Gelenk , Subvention
niche, populated by a handful of silver stars in their 60s, 70s and
decline , Rückgang escape unscathed boost sth.
even 80s. [Vn(skeIDd] , etw. erhöhen, steigern
slide , Talfahrt;
, ungeschoren davon-
hier: deutlicher Rückgang environment
Boosting births kommen
[In(vaI&rEnmEnt]
in a row , in Folge
On 1 April 2023, the new Children and Families Agency was yakuza [jE(ku:zE] , hier: Umfeld, Situation
cusp , Scheitelpunkt , Yakuza (Oberbegriff
launched, bringing all related issues, including the birthrate, für japanische kriminelle
prefecture [(pri:fektSE]
under one organization. The government says it will double maintain sth. , Präfektur
Organisationen)
, etw. aufrechterhalten
poster child
´Foto: nuu_jeed/Shutterstock.com
spending on childcare and allowances to four per cent of GDP, porn , Porno
affect sth. , Aushängeschild
but childcare and education subsidies implemented in the past
, sich auf etw. auswirken niche [ni:S] , Nische
have had little effect on the birthrate. fertility rate
municipality silver , hier: silberhaarig [f§:(tIlEti]
However, about 300 small towns have significantly boosted [mju)nIsI(pÄlEti] , Fruchtbarkeitsrate
launch sth. [lO:ntS]
births with a combination of generous payouts and policies , Kommune
, etw. starten; precipitous [pri(sIpItEs]
for more child-friendly environments. Municipalities offering successor hier: gründen , steil
the best deals to new parents almost certainly benefited from , Nachfolger(in)

START-UP
Cleaning the earth

Elena Doms in the field
PFAS-Chemikalien in der Umwelt sind sehr with her team and a
permit to grow hemp
langlebig und ein Gesundheitsrisiko. Elena Doms
und ihr Start-up Earth Plus wollen etwas gegen die
Verschmutzung tun – mit Hanf.
H
aving grown up in Russia’s Arctic region, Elena Doms
has early memories of seemingly endless winters. But
Von MELITA CAMERON-WOOD
when she realized that climate change was melting
ADVANCED PLUS
the ice, she knew very well what impact its loss would
have. This spurred her into a career in climate action. At the fi-
nancial services company Mastercard, she worked at the inter-
section of finance, sustainability and digital transformation, but
she wanted to do more.
Fotos: EarthPlus; iStock.com
spur sb. into a career pollution

, jmdn. einen beruflichen , Verschmutzung After hearing the founder of The Ocean Cleanup explain his
Weg einschlagen lassen mission to clear the world’s oceans of plastic, Doms was inspired
per- and polyfluoroalkyl
sustainability , per- und polyfluoriert to apply a similar concept to the world’s soils, by removing
, Nachhaltigkeit chemical pollution. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
soil , (Erd-)Boden are used in many manufacturing processes to make products

Industrial hemp was
used to clean soils
heatproof, non-stick, waterproof or stain-resistant. They are also
known as “forever chemicals” — as the name suggests, they do
after Fukushima and
not break down in the environment or in the body.
Chernobyl
Cleaning collaboration
Now based in Belgium, a country with one of the highest levels
of chemical pollution in its soil, Doms is putting the idea into
practice. She reached out to entrepreneur Frederik Verstraete,
whose company C-biotech specializes in reducing construc-
tion-related waste and emissions of greenhouse gases. Ver-
straete was working on a pilot project with Belgium’s Hasselt EARTH-RELATED IDIOMS
University in connection with a PFAS scandal that occurred
Are you familiar with these earth-related idioms? Try
near the site of an international chemical company, close to using them in your next English conversation!
Antwerp. “I told him: ‘Let’s take this pilot global and focus on • grassroots — involving ordinary people in a society,
cleaning soil contamination around the world’,” Doms says. group or organization, for example: “This grassroots
After receiving support from the construction company Cor- movement has grown in recent years.”
deel Group in April 2023, the pair founded Earth Plus, to apply • come (back) down to earth — to start thinking
and showcase nature-based solutions to reduce CO2 and remove about reality and real-life problems, usually after
PFAS from soil. The start-up works closely with specialists, such imagining something unrealistic or experiencing
as Sofie Thijs, a researcher at Hasselt University, whose work excitement, for example: “It’s time to come (back)
focuses on soil phytoremediation, a process that uses plants to down to earth.”
clean contaminated environments.
• drag something through the mud — to damage
a reputation, for example: “Her name was dragged
through the mud by the local press.”
A natural helper
Hemp is a species of plant grown specifically for use in indus-
grassroots movement drag sth. through the mud
trial and consumer products. When industrial hemp is planted , Bewegung von unten, , etw. durch den Dreck ziehen
in polluted soil, it removes PFAS pollution. “Industrial hemp Volksbewegung
acts like a pump,” Doms told Business Spotlight. “It transfers the
pollution from the soil into the leaves of the plant, but the stems
of the plant remain clean, as does the pollen.”
Industrial hemp was used to clean soils after the nuclear dis-
asters in Fukushima and Chernobyl. It grows fast, up to 3.5 me-
tres in 110 days, and it effectively absorbs CO2 — according to heatproof site pole , Stange
the UN, hemp sequesters between nine and 13 tonnes of CO2 , hitzebeständig , (Produktions-)Stätte
insulation , Isolierung,
per hectare of crop. To destroy the PFAS in the leaves, they are non-stick , nicht haftend showcase sth. , etw. Isolierstoff(e)
incinerated at 1,400 degrees Celsius. The hemp stems are used vorführen, präsentieren
stain-resistant capture sth.
to make products, such as poles and insulation, locking in the , schmutzabweisend phytoremediation , hier: etw. abscheiden
captured CO2. Ingmar Nopens, a professor at Ghent University [)faItEUri)mi:di(eIS&n]
break down , sich ab- circular , hier: Kreislauf-
, Phytoremediation,
and process manager at C-biotech, is developing circular con- bauen, sich zersetzen
-sanierung staggering
struction materials for Earth Plus using industrial hemp. reach out to sb. (US) , schwindelerregend
hemp , Hanf
The Swedish NGO ChemSec has estimated that the use of , zu jmdm. Kontakt
trillion , Billion(en)
aufnehmen stem , Halm, Stängel
forever chemicals costs the global economy a staggering $17.5
roughly [(rVfli]
trillion (roughly the equivalent of China’s GDP) every year. entrepreneur sequester sth.
, grob, ungefähr
[)QntrEprE(n§:] [sI(kwestE]
That shows the enormous potential for industrial hemp and , Unternehmer(in) , etw. binden GDP (gross domestic
soil remediation, so Earth Plus hopes to scale up its operations product) , BIP (Bruttoin-
greenhouse gas crop , Anbaupflanze(n)
by working with multinationals and governments. Doms says: landsprodukt)
, Treibhausgas
incinerate sth.
“We want to create a local circular economy to clean soils with scale sth. up , etw. ver-
occur [E(k§:] [In(sInEreIt]
größern; hier: ausbauen
local partners and create local jobs.” , sich ereignen , etw. verbrennen

BUSINESS FASHION
Dress for success
Jogginghose und Hemd auch im Büro? Die
Coronapandemie hat verändert, wie wir uns für die Arbeit
kleiden. Jetzt stehen Angestellte vor ungewohnten
Entscheidungen.
Von RACHEL PREECE

“Our post-pandemic
MEDIUM wardrobes are the
culmination of more than
a century of change”
H
as the way you dress for work changed
since the pandemic? The expression “Zoom
shirt” is now in the Macmillan Dictionary.
Those of us who worked from home dur- rise of casual dress has been going on since the early 1900s,
ing lockdown know what this is — a presentable shirt when people thought golf suits and patterned socks were really
that we use for video calls while working on our sofas avant-garde,” Clemente says. “Our post-pandemic wardrobes
in coffee-stained jogging bottoms or yoga leggings. are the culmination of more than a century of change, which has
The consultancy McKinsey & Company has re- been put into hyperdrive in the past decade or so.”
ported that more than 60 per cent of consumers A prime example is the official portrait of world leaders at
spent less on clothes during the pandemic, in no the G7 Summit in 2022 — for the first time, no one wore a tie.
small part because strict office dress codes don’t Certain business leaders are famous for their casual work out-
apply when people work from home. Now that many fits, like Steve Jobs’s black turtleneck. Mark Zuckerberg’s ward-
employees are back in the office, questions of fashion robe is said to be full of grey T-shirts (each one reportedly costs
are also back. But it seems clear that the pandemic between $300 and $400). This carefully curated minimalism is
has left its mark: many people are experiencing back- Silicon Valley’s “tech bro” outfit. “Clothes are always a costume,”
to-work fashion anxiety, feeling out of practice in the said journalist Robert Armstrong. “There is no costume more
daily decision about what to wear. traditional, or more stagy, for people in power than the costume
In the Harvard Business Review, leadership expert of indifference.” Work defines these tech stars, not their clothes.
Allison Shapira has written about the unspoken rules
of business fashion. She told Business Spotlight about
the uncertainty regarding office dress codes: “[In the coffee-stained casual prime example
, voller Kaffeeflecken , leger, zwanglos , Paradebeispiel
past,] it was easy to simply put on a suit. With more
options today, younger professionals don’t have clear bottoms , Hose hoodie (ifml.) tie , Krawatte
, Kapuzenpullover
guidance about what’s acceptable and what’s not — consultancy , Unterneh- turtleneck
mensberatung commonplace , Rollkragenpullover
and their managers often feel uncomfortable provid- , weitverbreitet
Fotos: Kristen Curette & Daemaine Hines/Stocksy United
ing that feedback.” apply , hier: gelten curate sth.

rise , Aufstieg; [kju&(reIt]
leave one’s mark
hier auch: Siegeszug , etw. kuratieren;
, seine Spuren hinter-
Casual colleagues lassen patterned , gemustert
hier: pflegen
Since the 20th century, work attire, like ready-to-wear tech bro
anxiety [ÄN(zaIEti] avant-garde
fashion in general, has become ever more casual. To- [(tek brEU] (ifml.)
, Sorge, Besorgnis [)ÄvQN (gA:d]
, Spezialist(in), der/die im
day, jeans are often acceptable even when meeting cli- , [wg. Aussprache]
digitalen Sektor tätig ist
professional
ents, and hoodies are commonplace in many offices. , hier: Berufstätige(r) wardrobe
stagy [(steIdZi]
Professor Deirdre Clemente, a historian at the , Garderobe, Kleidung
attire [E(taIE] , theatralisch, gespielt,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who specializes in , Kleidung hyperdrive: be put into ~ unnatürlich
American fashion and culture, says the big changes , hier: sich rasant
ready-to-wear fashion
beschleunigen
in fashion have happened in the past ten years. “The , Konfektionsmode

Ready for
your close-up?
“Zoom shirt”
is now in the
dictionary
Gen Z’s office style

In a 2021 survey by the consultancy EY, 92 per cent of
US Gen Zers said authenticity was a priority. Young HELP! WHAT SHOULD I WEAR TO WORK?
American politicians use fashion to reflect this au-
“My biggest tip: invest in something smart AND com-
thenticity. Maxwell Frost, a 26-year-old Democrat in
fortable. Appearing that you don’t belong in your
Florida, told The New York Times: “I feel like there’s a di-
clothes can be the biggest turndown”
rect connection between Doc Martens and a certain MIRA SWARUP, coach and speaker
style, and progressive young people.” While much
of his professional wardrobe consists of suits, he has “Every guy should have a pair of great-fitting trou-
worn Doc Martens to casual events. In politics, cloth- sers, non-denim and tailored, that they can dress up
ing choices can express what you stand for. or down for any dress code. And every woman should
Outside politics, other Gen Z workers are also ex- have a high-quality, well-fitted blazer”
pressing their individuality. The hashtag “corporate CASSANDRA SETHI, personal stylist at Next Level
goth” has more than 25 million views on TikTok, with
Wardrobe
Gen Zers keen to fight for their freedom of expres-
“The important thing is to maintain comfort while feel-
sion in the workplace. As the pandemic blurred office ing ‘dressed’ for work. If something doesn’t feel good,
dress codes, many see this as an opportunity. the person wearing it won’t either. Working from home,
I still wear the same clothes as to the office — it makes
Environmental impact me feel ‘at work’ and accountable”
The UN Environment Programme has reported that RACHEL MOSS, stylist
the clothing sector produces between two and eight
Fotos: Studio Foirma/Stocksy United, Zack Wittman / Guardian / eyevine/ddp
per cent of global CO2 emissions. As people buy new smart , hier: schick tailored
Maxwell Frost
, maßgeschneidert
outfits to return to the office, they are being urged sees a connection turndown , Ablehnung;
between style hier: schlechte Außenwirkung maintain sth.
to consider the environmental impact. Sustainable and politics , etw. aufrechterhalten
fashion’s market share is increasing, and with mar- guy [gaI] (ifml.) , Mann
accountable
ket growth, the range of available styles grows, too, denim , Jeansstoff
, verantwortlich
making the search for sustainable business clothes
less challenging. On the other hand, the Chinese
fast-fashion brand SHEIN was the most popular survey [(s§:veI] keen: be ~ to do sth. (UK) attitude , Haltung,
brand in the world in 2022. Changing attitudes isn’t , Umfrage, Erhebung , etw. unbedingt tun Einstellung
wollen
easy. gen [dZen] (ifml.) maintain sth.
Stylist Cassandra Sethi believes that it is possi- , hier: Generation blur sth. , etw. ver- , etw. beibehalten
schwimmen lassen
ble to maintain a classic office wardrobe by choos- goth , Gothic-Szene; toned-down
hier: schwarze Kleidung impact , Auswirkung(en) , abgeschwächt;
ing toned-down timeless items in neutral colours.
präferierend hier: dezent
“Those types of pieces will always have a longstand- sustainable , nachhaltig
item , Artikel
ing place in anyone’s wardrobe,” she says. brand , Marke

WHAT IF?
What if there were

no greenwashing?
Was wäre, wenn? Diese hypothetische Frage stellen
wir Kolleginnen und Kollegen von DIE ZEIT. Dieses Mal:
Was wäre, wenn Unternehmen die CO2 -Emissionen
ihrer Produkte nicht mehr schönrechnen dürften?
Von HANNAH KNUTH

MEDIUM
“You might think society has

already solved the crisis”
T
his year, scientists have warned more HANNAH KNUTH promote this image, claiming they are working to-
clearly than ever before of the devastating is an editor at DIE wards great climate goals, although this is rarely true.
effects of climate change. America’s Na- ZEIT. She writes A report in 2023 by the NewClimate Institute shows
tional Academy of Sciences has predicted about media, that four out of five large corporations, including Am-
that the 1.5-degree limit will be exceeded in the next economics and azon and others, aren’t doing as much to protect the
decade. This means the earth is heating up faster climate crime climate as they claim to be.
than feared, while greenhouse gas emissions con- Would a world without greenwashing be better?
tinue to rise. It would, first of all, be pretty depressing for all of us.
If you walk through a supermarket or shopping Just imagine if companies actually advertised how
centre, however, you might think society has al- much CO2 their products cause or how much cotton
ready solved the crisis, looking at “environmentally and water is used in production. It would become
friendly” washing powder, “climate-neutral” flights clear that the progress many talk about today doesn’t
or “CO2-positive” handbags. In other words, prod- exist yet; that there is still no feasible idea of what a
ucts that promise not to harm the climate. Some climate-neutral handbag, or a climate-neutral flight,
even claim to help, as trees are planted with every actually is.
purchase, for example. However, doing away with the supposedly green
Today, many consumers understand that a lot of promises would be honest — and beneficial for cli-
this is greenwashing — when companies pretend mate protection. No longer able to fool consumers
their products are greener than they actually are. In and politicians, companies could concentrate on
most cases, little has changed in the production of what’s so urgently needed: reducing CO2, reorganiz-
these goods. Instead, the firms try to compensate for ing production and rethinking supply chains.
the resulting emissions. The good news is that there may soon be a world
This creates the impression that the economy without greenwashing: the EU has introduced a law
is well on its way to transformation. Companies to ban such claims in the future.
devastating greenhouse gas greenwashing , ein feasible [(fi:zEb&l]

, verheerend , Treibhausgas pseudo-grünes Image geben , umsetzbar
predict sth. claim sth. compensate for sth. supply chain

, etw. prognostizieren , etw. behaupten , für etw. Entschädigung , Lieferkette
Foto: privat
leisten
exceed sth. purchase [(p§:tSEs] ban sth. , etw. verbieten
, etw. übertreffen, übersteigen , Kauf goal , Ziel
editor , Redakteur(in)

BUSINESS SKILLS
How to win the

race for talent
Handwerk, Pflege, Tech-Unternehmen: Überall fehlen
Fachkräfte. Wie gelingt es, Nachwuchstalente für das
eigene Unternehmen zu gewinnen?
Von KEN TAYLOR “Recruit for

MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS
potential rather
than for roles”
A
recent McKinsey report on change employers relatively easily, do
the growing talent shortage not tolerate mediocrity or incompetence.
found that about 90 per cent By building and nurturing relation-
of organizations expect to ships and by promoting the company, re-
have meaningful skills gaps in the near cruiters can start the process of identify-
future. In the UK, for example, about 1.3 ing and attracting top talent for you. This shortage mediocrity
, Mangel [)mi:di(QkrEti]
million jobs are currently unfilled, even involves marketing your organization , Mittelmäßigkeit
though unemployment is at historically like a product. For example, attending gap , Lücke;
hier: Defizit nurture sth.
low levels in both Europe and the US. university campus events leads to contact , etw. pflegen
unfilled
Economists predict that finding talent with potential recruits, which can make it , hier: nicht besetzt recruiter
will remain difficult for the next decade easier to get them on board when the time , Personal-
predict sth. , etw.
and even beyond. And if nothing is done is right. referent(in)
prognostizieren
to change this trend, the situation will Other ways to be noticed include par- recruit , neue(r)
revenue [(revEnju:]
continue to get worse and the cost to the ticipating in job fairs, sponsoring events Mitarbeiter(in)
, Umsatz(erlös)
world economy from unrealized reve- and offering internships. Make use of get sb. on board
trillion , Billion(en)
, hier: jmdn. ins
nues will be in the trillions. social media by sharing information Unternehmen holen
recruit sb.
In short, finding, recruiting and then about your organization (such as recruit- , jmdn. anwerben
job fair , Jobmesse
retaining talented people has become ing films, photos from company events, retain sb.
internship
critical to business success. employee testimonials) that shows it’s a , jmdn. halten
, Praktikum
great place to work. Pay a bonus to current critical
testimonial
Finding talent employees for referrals. If your employees , entscheidend,
, Referenz, Bericht
wesentlich
Illustrationen: Georg Lechner
The race for talent is won by organiza- have had a positive experience of working
referral
tions that attract people rather than with candidates before, this lowers the race (for) , hier:
, Weiterempfehlung
Wettbewerb (um)
search for them. Such businesses have risk of mis-hiring. mis-hire
a strong brand and business culture, The aim is to be an employer of choice. high-flyer
, ungeeignete
, Überflieger(in);
competent leadership and ambitious By cultivating a progressive company cul- Mitarbeiter(innen)
hier: vielversprechen-
einstellen
standards. High-flyers, who can usually ture, you can make it easier for potential de(r) Mitarbeiter(in)
30 Business Spotlight 12/2023 COMMUNICATION

31
employees to approach you. Manish top reason given for quitting a job
Chandra, CEO of Poshmark, says: “An was the lack of career development ESSENTIAL PHRASES
organization that focuses on its core and advancement. The most success-
The challenge
values will find people who ... really ful organizations have learned from
connect to your mission.” this, setting up talent management • What are the skills gaps that we need
programmes that encourage and de-
to close?
Recruiting talent velop their people — especially their • We have a shortage of talented
Keep things as simple as possible. A high-flyers.
leaders.
time-consuming recruitment process You need competency manage- • How many posts are unfilled at
will put people off. Your recruitment ment processes for developing, mon- present?
materials and interfaces must be suit- itoring and managing the develop- • Unemployment is at a very low level.
able for mobile devices, and job post- ment of skills, abilities, knowledge
ings should be short and to the point. and behaviour within the workforce. Finding talent
Recruit for potential rather than This also gives you benchmarks, so • How can we attract talented people
for roles. You want forward-looking you know top talent when you see it. to our organization?
people who enjoy a challenge and Training is the most common way • The recruitment process starts by
are prepared to grow. Give them a to develop employees’ skills, but an- making our organization known.
clear potential career path. Talented other way is mentoring. This is a par- • Where can we find forward-looking
people are motivated by opportuni- ticularly good way to help new people high-flyers?
ties — including promotions, skills understand the company culture and • A positive online presence is critical.
development, etc. develop professional skills. It’s a high-
A powerful employee value prop- ly effective retention tool, as people Recruiting talent
osition (EVP) helps you to stand out see that their potential is recognized • Our recruitment process is too
for quality candidates. An EVP is the and that the company is committed bureaucratic.
set of benefits you offer employees in to helping them grow. • We need to offer a transparent
return for their skills and experience. Talent management is also an im- potential career path.
Your EVP outlines the benefits, finan- portant part of succession planning.
• What makes our employee value
cial rewards and career development By identifying successors to key po- proposition better than others?
opportunities employees have. It sitions in the organization, you can
• We want people who understand and
should also include your organiza- actively develop those people’s skill support our values.
tion’s vision and values, which will sets. This works well with mentoring,
help find the right talent — people especially when the mentee is the
Retaining talent
who understand your culture and probable successor of the mentor.
• We have a well-defined talent
believe in your vision. If you are able to get the right per-
management system.
son into the right job and nurture
• Retaining qualified employees would
Retaining talent them properly, within an excellent
be easier than finding new ones.
A reputation for people development company culture, you are well on the
helps to attract and retain talented way to building a very talented and
• Any training programme needs to be
personalized, flexible and varied.
staff. In surveys by McKinsey, the successful organization.
• How would you like to mentor a
young employee?
approach sb. career path workforce
, jmdn. kontaktieren , berufliche Laufbahn , Personalbestand
gap , Lücke; bureaucratic
CEO (chief executive employee value benchmark hier: Defizit [)bjUErE(krÄtIk]
officer) proposition , Auflistung , Vergleichsgröße , [wg. Aussprache]
, Geschäftsführer(in) der Vorteile eines Unterne- shortage , Mangel
retention , Zurückbe- career path
hmens als Arbeitgeber unfilled
core , Kern haltung; hier: Bindung , berufliche Laufbahn
stand out , herausragen , hier: nicht besetzt
mission , Leitsatz/-sätze committed: be ~ to doing employee value
benefit sth. , sich engagieren, recruitment
put sb. off proposition
, Zusatzleistung etw. zu tun , Anwerbung
, jmdn. abschrecken , Auflistung der Vorteile
outline sth. succession , Nachfolge high-flyer eines Unternehmens als

interface , Schnittstelle , Überflieger(in); Arbeitgeber
, etw. umreißen
skill set , Kompetenzen hier: vielversprech-
device [di(vaIs] , Gerät retain sb.
survey [(s§:veI] Diesen Text hier ende(r) Mitarbeiter(in)
mentee [)men(ti:] kostenlos anhören! , jmdn. halten
role , hier: Position , Umfrage
, Mentee, von einem www.business- critical , entscheidend,
grow , hier: sich weiter- quit a job [kwIt] (ifml.) Mentor / einer Mentorin spotlight.de/ wesentlich
entwickeln , eine Stelle kündigen betreute Person audio-gratis/12
32 Business Spotlight 12/2023 COMMUNICATION

ODD JOBS
Designing money
Identität, Sicherheit, Politik: Worauf es wirklich
ankommt, wenn man als Designer Banknoten entwirft.
Interview: RACHEL PREECE

EASY PLUS
I
worked in advertising for 20 years before joining
Giesecke+Devrient in the design department.
G+D provides secure payment solutions, includ-
ing banknote design. You can’t study banknote
design at university, but most people in this field
have a background in graphic design and spend years
learning the craft. It takes so long because there are
many different aspects: the technical elements of MARC MITTELSTAEDT is
banknote security and the designs that showcase a
the head of design, banknote
solutions, at Giesecke+Devrient.
country’s identity. The intercultural aspect of bank-
He has worked for the company
note design is especially interesting and important. since 2009
We collaborate with the central bank to discuss
the client’s needs. Sometimes, there are specific ele-
ments they want to include. As banknote designers,
we need to consider security, but we often have cre-
ative freedom in terms of design, at least to some ex-
“Different cultures
tent. There are certain limitations. All banknotes are
part of a series, so we can’t start from scratch when
adding a new one. Also, we must ensure that the de-
interpret symbols and
sign is politically correct. We’ve never been asked to
depict something we disagree with, but we need to
be mindful of this, especially as different cultures in-
colours differently”
terpret symbols and colours differently.
Some central banks, like Norway’s, do surveys
among their citizens to collect ideas for banknote
designs. It’s our responsibility to make sure those
ideas are suitable. First, we do extensive research
and consider various design elements — there are
often adjustments to be made. The banknote design
phase itself takes about four weeks, which includes
finalizing security features. Then, we spend another
four weeks preparing the final product and six weeks
preparing the printing plates. In total, including all department depict sth. feature
, Abteilung , etw. darstellen, abbilden , Merkmal, Aspekt
the discussions, it takes about a year to introduce a
Fotos: JAN SCHUENKE/ Gieseke & Devrient PR
craft , Handwerk mindful: be ~ of sth. printing plate

completely new banknote, although updates to a
, etw. bedenken , Druckplatte
currency take less time. showcase sth.
, etw. aufzeigen, survey [(s§:veI] currency [(kVrEnsi]
We work in a diverse environment, and no two präsentieren , Umfrage , Währung
days are the same. Each day is full of surprises as
in terms of suitable environment
we refine the details in the storytelling aspect — as , im Hinblick auf , geeignet, passend [In(vaI&rEnmEnt]
a designer, I find that the most fascinating phase. I , hier: Umfeld
start from scratch research [ri(s§:tS]
don’t have a favourite banknote; they are all like my , bei Null anfangen , Recherche(n) refine sth.
children. How could I choose which one is the most , etw. präzisieren,
ensure sth. [In(SO:] adjustment
verbessern
beautiful? , etw. sicherstellen , Änderung, Korrektur
CAREERS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 33

WORK LIFE
“Paternity leave
can increase
productivity”
SAIRAM NATARAJAN, India
Professional
dads Nach der Geburt eines Kindes wollen auch manche Männer eine
berufliche Auszeit nehmen. Väter aus drei verschiedenen Ländern
berichten von ihren Erfahrungen. Und zwei Expertinnen wissen, wie
Unternehmen familienfreundlicher werden können.
Von MELITA CAMERON-WOOD

MEDIUM
F
athers want to bond with their children and be there for Many companies pay employees the remaining 20 per cent
their partners after childbirth. Paternity leave should of their salary during their paid leave. You also get two weeks of
offer the chance to do that, but traditional views of paid leave after the birth. Although many see the Swedish sys-
gender roles and a lack of established support from em- tem as progressive, the 90 days are not compulsory, and many
ployers and governments causes many men to think twice about men don’t take them — according to government data, fathers
taking time off. Business Spotlight speaks to three dads about their in Sweden take about 30 per cent of all paid parental leave.
experiences of being on paternity leave — what they’ve learned My wife and I are both freelancers, but self-employed people
and what they think could be better. get the same benefits as salaried employees in Sweden — the
money you receive is simply 80 per cent of what your expected
Sairam Natarajan, co-founder of Mindei, a start-up that pro- income would have been. After the initial two weeks with my
vides mental health services to children and adolescents, and first-born son, my wife took nine months of maternity leave.
director of ethics at Mazars UK, an international accounting Then, I took over and did nine months of paternity leave, most
firm — Coimbatore, India of which was paid based on my income. I chose to save some
After the birth of my son, I took a sabbatical of two months and of the paternity leave for later — it can be used until your child
worked part-time for the following few months. I was lucky. is eight.
Many new fathers in India are unable to take parental leave. Knowing that we can rely on each other to take care of the
Only central government employees are allowed 15 days of children makes it easier when one of us needs to travel for work,
paternity leave, and there’s no formal policy for private-sector for example. You need to be able to be on your own with your
employees. Some companies in India, especially multinationals, child. Many of the men that I interviewed for “Swedish Dads”
offer 15 working days of paternity leave. A few organizations of- told me it was important for them to spend time with their child
fer three or more months of paid paternity leave, but that’s rare. without the support of their partner, because parenting involves
I hope India’s government takes steps to improve legislation. learning from your mistakes. Many of those in C-suite positions
In the meantime, HR departments can introduce more generous found paternity leave hard, as they felt out of their comfort zone.
paternity leave policies, for both biological and adoptive fathers,
and offer more flexible working arrangements. Paternity leave
bond with sb. accounting firm level day
can raise productivity and morale, attract candidates and help , eine Bindung zu jmdm. , Steuerberatungs-, , in etwa: Ausgleichstag
employers retain top talent, so there are clear benefits. aufbauen Wirtschaftsprüfungsfirma
compensation
paternity leave sabbatical , Freistellung, , hier: Ausgleichszahlung
Johan Bävman, freelance filmmaker, photographer and the , Vaterschaftsurlaub dienstfreie Zeit
krona , Krone
creator of “Swedish Dads”, a photo project about fathers who think twice about sth. legislation
assign sth. to sb.
, sich etw. gründlich , Gesetzgebung
took six months or more of paternity leave — Malmö, Sweden , jmdm. etw. zuteilen,
überlegen
In Sweden, for one child, financial support is paid for a total of HR department gewähren
take time off , Personalabteilung
480 days. For 390 of those, the payments are 80 per cent of your , sich freinehmen;
compulsory
income, and parents receive what are called “sickness benefit morale [mE(rA:l] , obligatorisch
hier: sich freistellen lassen
, Arbeitsmoral
level days”. The compensation for the other 90 days is 180 krona maternity leave
co-founder
retain sb. , Mutterschaftsurlaub
(about 15 euros) per day. When it comes to couples, each parent , Mitgründer(in)
, jmdn. (im Unternehmen)
is assigned 240 days, which are non-transferable if one parent C-suite [(si: swi:t]
adolescent [)ÄdE(les&nt] halten
Foto: privat
, Vorstand(sebene)
decides not to take them. If you are a single parent, then you are , hier: für Jugendliche
sickness benefit (UK)
(nachgestellt)
allowed all 480 days. , Krankengeld

POLICIES FOR NEW DADS
IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
UK: One or two consecutive weeks of

paid paternity leave. Employees receive
£172.48 per week or 90 per cent of their
weekly income — depending on which
is lower
USA: 12 weeks’ unpaid leave under the

Family and Medical Leave Act
Japan: Four weeks’ flexible paternity

leave before and after the birth, paid
at 80 per cent of the employee’s salary,
plus 12 months of childcare leave (first
six months paid at two-thirds and the
rest at half of salary), which can be used
until the child is three
Brazil: Five working days of paid leave

at the time of birth
Germany: Up to three years, during

which time parental allowance is avail-
Johan Bävman, Sweden able — a minimum of €300 and a max-
imum of €1,800, depending on income
Many manual workers, on the other hand, said they felt that they
had to fight for their right to take paternity leave. Spain: A total of 16 weeks’ paid pa-
After my parental leave, I changed the type of clients I was ternity leave. The first six weeks must
looking for — it helped me to change my pattern. Many of the be taken straight after the birth, while
the rest must be taken before the child
participants in “Swedish Dads”, which has now been exhibited
turns one
in 65 countries, changed their jobs after going on paternity leave.
Those nine months off work give you time to consider the legacy paternity leave parental allowance
, Vaterschaftsurlaub , Elterngeld
you want to leave behind.
act , hier: Gesetz
Steffen Rolfes, aerospace engineer — Munich, Germany
For the first year of my daughter’s life, my partner and I went
part-time and split our parental leave equally between us. My fe- toddlers at crèches. If society were more accepting, it’d be easier
male co-workers were supportive, but I received some pushback for parents to choose a parental leave model that’s right for them.
from male colleagues. They’d tell me: “I thought you wanted to Working part-time with a newborn involves a lot of plan-
climb the career ladder.” Some even suggested that my partner’s ning and communication. It’s very tiring at times, but experi-
maternal instincts would make my presence unnecessary. encing precious moments, like my daughter’s first word, make
There’s a lack of role models for hands-on fathers, and many it all worth it. While parental leave hasn’t accelerated my career
men fear underperformance, so they prefer to leave the role to growth, it hasn’t slowed it down either. I gave a talk about my
their female partners. Traditional gender roles don’t help, nor experience at work to inspire other men to change their views
does the social stigma associated with sending an infant to day- on caregiving and parental leave. Times are changing. So should
care all whole week. There aren’t enough spots for babies and attitudes towards parenting.
Fotos: Johan Bävman; privat
pattern , Struktur, aerospace engineer hands-on spot , hier: Platz accelerate sth. give a talk
Verhaltensmuster , Luftfahrtingenieur(in) , zupackend; hier: sich , etw. beschleunigen, , einen Vortrag halten
toddler , Kleinkind
aktiv beteiligend voranbringen
exhibit sth. pushback (US) caregiving
crèche [kreS] (UK)
, etw. ausstellen, zeigen , Widerstand infant , Kleinkind career growth , Pflege; hier: Betreuung
, Krippe
, berufliche Entwicklung
legacy , Erbe; hier: maternal daycare , Tagesbetreu- attitude
precious [(preSEs]
(elterliche) Prägung , Mutter- ung; auch: Kinderkrippe , Einstellung
, wertvoll
36 Business Spotlight 12/2023 CAREERS

UK and US parental
leave changemakers
“Times are Business Spotlight spoke to two experts who help companies and working
parents navigate parental leave.
changing and AMY BEACOM is founder and CEO of the Center for Parental Leave Lead-
ership, a consultancy and coaching service based in Portland, Oregon,
in the US, which supports companies, working parents and international
so should organizations
DR NATALIE PARSONS is co-founder of the tech company Parent Promise,
attitudes towards
in Manchester, England, which specializes in reinventing workplace support
for new and expecting parents
What are the big problems with How can employers be as fami-
parenting” parental leave in the US?

Beacom: The US is the only de-
ly-friendly as possible?
P: Speak to their people! Get
STEFFEN ROLFES, Germany veloped nation without man- feedback. Hold workshops to un-
dated paid parental leave. This derstand parents’ challenges and
means a quarter of mothers go how they feel about the support
back to work within two weeks they’re given. Everything should
of giving birth, and dads rarely be driven by the working parents,
get to take leave at all. That’s trau- who need to be fully involved.
matic for families and dangerous B: Policy is a great start, but it’s
for businesses. The Family and how policy is put into practice
Medical Leave Act provides just that matters. Offer manager/par-
12 weeks of unpaid job-protected ent-aligned training and make it
leave, which many families can’t a required part of the offboarding
afford to take. We also have a process. If it’s only an option, it
growing patchwork of state laws may be forgotten or be done only
that employers with an increas- by mothers. The systemic issues,
ingly remote workforce must such as managers’ lack of under-
follow. It’s an untenable situation standing or dads’ unawareness of
that isn’t working for anyone. their role, won’t be identified or
challenged, and companies will
What improvements do the UK’s continue to suffer.
statutory leave policies need?
Parsons: There shouldn’t be a How does a good parental leave
distinction between maternity policy help companies?
and paternity pay. Regardless of B: A strong parental leave policy
how somebody becomes a parent, (at least 12 weeks, gender-neutral
they should be allowed the same and at 100 per cent pay) creates
amount of leave. More govern- clarity and a level playing field.
ment funding is needed, so that It’ll attract top talent, increase
statutory parental pay at least retention and promote gender
covers the real living wage. diversity.
founder , Gründer(in) remote , von auswärts aligned [E(laInd]

arbeitend, mobil , ausgerichtet, abgestimmt
CEO (chief executive officer)
Steffen Rolfes, Germany , Geschäftsführer(in) untenable [Vn(tenEb&l] issue [(ISu:] , Frage, Thema
, unhaltbar
expecting clarity , Klarheit
, hier: werdend statutory [(stÄtSUtEri]
level: a ~ playing field
, gesetzlich
mandated , hier: gesetzlich , Chancengleichheit
vorgeschrieben
retention , hier: Bindung

CAREER COACH
What’s your
team’s language?
Fotos: cagkansayin/iStock.com; Uwe Klössing
Wer gemeinsam arbeitet, entwickelt unbewusst

auch eine gemeinsame Sprache. Aber was
verrät die über die eigene Unternehmenskultur?
Von FRANK PETERS

MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS

“One of the most
important things I do
is listen to how people
talk to each other”
W
hat language does your
team speak? English? Ger-
man? Or maybe you speak
German, but your pres-
entation slides are in English and your
boss is Spanish. I once had a boss who was
British. One of the first things he did was
give us a translation sheet to help us un-
derstand the things he said. I still remem-
ber one example. “When the British say:
‘That’s very interesting’, Germans under-
stand: ‘He likes what I’m saying and wants
to hear more.’ What the British mean is:
‘That’s clearly nonsense. Never mention
that again.’”
Country-specific differences are fasci-
nating. For a team, it’s even more impor-
tant to understand what your specific
language is. Is it a language of responsi-
bility or a language of blame? Is it a lan-
guage of victims or a language of doers
and creators?
FRANK PETERS lives Team-specific language

in Cologne and works Of course, if you ask yourself and your
as a coach with teams team this question directly, I suspect that
and leaders, to make you won’t get to the heart of the matter.
them a successful and But there’s a nice, playful way to find out slide , Folie
happy team (again) what language your team speaks. But be-
sheet , Blatt
fore we do that, ask yourself: why is it im-
doer , Macher(in),
portant to work on my team’s language? Handelnde(r)
When I work with teams, one of the
suspect sth. , etw.
most important things I do is listen: I lis- vermuten
ten to how people in the team talk to each heart: the ~ of the matter
other; how they talk to people outside the , der Kern der Sache

team and outside the company, like me. I member will have a speaking role, while
pay close attention to the words they use the others listen.
and whether they talk in the past, present The scenario is the same for each
or future tense. Do they use short, crisp round: imagine you’ve just spoken to your
sentences and get straight to the point? boss/manager/CEO about an issue that’s
Or do they beat around the bush in long, important to you, for example your salary,
drawn-out statements? All of this is an holidays, promotion, working hours, etc.
indication of where the real problem lies. After this conversation, you meet your
Language should have a positive effect, colleagues in the canteen and tell them
a unifying effect on a team. After a while, about it.
each team develops its
own specific expressions Round one: Questions
and sayings. For example,
there may be a team that
“Language In this round, the story-
teller can use only ques-
used to have a British
boss, in which now the
statement “That’s very
should have tions, for example: “Can
you imagine what hap-
pened to me a few min-
interesting” is a running
gag. Externals won’t un- a unifying utes ago? What was my
boss thinking when she
derstand why team mem-
bers find this funny.
Most teams aren’t real-
effect on a told me that I wouldn’t
get a pay rise? Why did
she come to that conclu-
ly aware of the words and
phrases that are part of
their identity, or that their
team” sion?” Do this for one to
two minutes and then,
have the storyteller and
language gives them their identity at all. It the audience think about the following:
is worth taking a closer look at the iden-
tity-building language you use in a team.
⋅⋅ How did this conversation feel?
How clear was the message?
Then, you can use it more consciously,
and integrating new colleagues might be
⋅ As the audience, how deeply did you
get into the story?
smoother if you introduced them to your
language.
⋅ Did you feel a connection?
You might like to use one or two of I’ve done this several times with teams,
your team meetings to make your lan- and there’s no one, clear reaction. Some
guage transparent. In my Toastmasters people find it difficult to get their mes-
Club (in which we practise our pub- sage across in this way. Others like ques-
lic-speaking skills), we have a role called tions because they open the door for an-
“grammarian”. This person’s job is to col- swers, for reflection and connection. Find crisp , knapp und klar issue [(ISu:]
, Problem, Thema
lect all the nice (and not-so-nice) uses of out for yourself and listen carefully. beat around the bush
language in the speeches that have been [bUS] , um den heißen promotion
Brei herumreden, nicht , Beförderung
given and to report on what they’ve no- Round two: Passive Klartext reden
pay rise (UK)
ticed. You could have a “team grammari- In this round, the storyteller is only al- drawn-out , Gehaltserhöhung
an”, who notes down team-specific terms lowed to talk in the passive voice, for , in die Länge gezogen
conclusion
and expressions used by team members. example: “I was asked to provide a list of indication , Hinweis, , Schluss(folgerung)
It’s often fun to hear the words you regu- my achievements in the past 12 months. Anhaltspunkt
audience [(O:diEns]
larly use as a team. After that, I was told to wait because my toastmaster (UK) , Zuhörer(innen)
boss was called away.” Again, after one or , Mann, der Tischred-
get a message across
ner(innen) ankündigt und
How we say what we say two minutes, have the storyteller and the
Toasts ausbringt
, eine Botschaft rüber-
Once you’ve looked at the team-specific audience reflect on the same questions as bringen
grammarian
words and phrases, you should take a in round one. Let me add one more: what , Grammatiker(in)
passive voice
, Passiv
closer look at the kind of language you was different compared with round one?
term , (Fach-)Ausdruck
use. You’ll find the following exercise to Most of the teams mention that this time, achievement
CEO (chief executive , Leistung, Erfolg
be a real eye-opener for your team. Let’s the story sounded more distant and not officer)
play four rounds. In each round, one team very engaging. engaging , fesselnd
, Geschäftsführer(in)

Round three: Impersonal
This time, the storyteller takes an even more distant position, ESSENTIAL PHRASES
using only “one” or “you” (and not “I” or “me”) when they talk
about themselves. And they only speak in conditional phrases, Passive practice
such as: “You could have the impression…” or “One might think We use the passive voice most often when
that…” it’s not important (or not known) who
Again, after a couple of minutes, you stop and talk about the is performing an action. Here are some
experience with the questions from round two. Here, you’ll examples in various tenses:
probably find that the story didn’t sound very authentic and
was not very clear. • The report will be finished this week.
• I’m sure the product launch is going to
be postponed again.
Round four: Normal • My salary is paid into this account every
People usually give a sigh of relief when I explain the task for month.
this round. This time, the storyteller can tell the story as they • The deal is being finalized right now.
normally would, in their own words. As before, allow one to • The speaker was interrupted several
two minutes followed by a round of reflection. In most cases, the times during his presentation.
storyteller tries to avoid using the questions, the passive or the • A company-wide meeting has been
conditional required in rounds one to three. On the one hand, called this afternoon.
that makes the story clearer. On the other, it hinders the flow. • If the mistake had been spotted earlier,
After the four rounds, I have the participants discuss the fol- all of this trouble could have been
avoided.
lowing questions:
⋅ Which round (one to three) is closest to your everyday situ-
ation at work? Are there differences depending on who you
Impersonal pronouns
The word “one” can be used as a pronoun
are speaking to?
⋅ Which kind of language feels most and least comfortable to
you, and why?
that refers to people in general, not any
specific person:
⋅ Which elements would you like to see more of in your team’s

language and what do you want to hear less of?
• One can always rely on Sarah for some
inspiration.
• Too much work is not good for one’s
There are no right or wrong answers here. There are teams who health.
love to talk to each other clearly and directly. Others prefer
keeping some distance. This exercise is not about what kind However, “one” is considered formal and
a bit old-fashioned. It’s more common to
of language is best, but about making the team aware of how
use “you” and “they”:
they speak to each other and increasing their awareness of their
team’s language. • You’ll never know unless you ask.
• Do they really eat kangaroo steaks in
Australia?
sigh of relief [ri(li:f] • You’re not allowed to smoke inside.
, Seufzer der Erleich-
• Someone has left their laptop in the
terung
conference room.
hinder sth.
, etw. hemmen
passive voice , Passiv call sth. , hier: etw.
einberufen
tense , Zeitform
spot sth. , etw. ent-
product launch [lO:ntS]
decken, erkennen
, Produkteinführung
pronoun , Pronomen
postpone sth.
, etw. verschieben
Übungen zu diesem
Thema hier kostenlos
anhören!
www.business-spotlight.
de/audio-gratis/12

ENGLISH FOR
as
bt
ar
aq
ap
am
ao al
L A N G UAG E S E C TI O N
an
at
ak
X
U
W
V
w
y
u
Illustration: Mike Ellis
42 Business Spotlight 12/2023 LANGUAGE

Airport security
Wichtige Vokabeln zum Thema Flughafensicherheit finden Sie hier.
Von HILDEGARD RUDOLPH

EASY AUDIO
1. check-in desk (UK),

Security first!
check-in counter (US) Security starts with packing your suitcase. As passengers pass through security,
, Abfertigungsschalter There is a long list of things that you may they don’t see many other people work-
2. (airline) passenger not take with you in your hand luggage, ing behind the scenes. Luggage and other
, Fluggast, -reisende(r)
such as any sharp items (scharfe/spitze things are loaded on to the plane, which
3. passport control , Passkontrolle Gegenstände), e-cigarettes, rechargeable is refuelled (betankt). Various technical
ID (identity card) control and lithium-ion batteries of a certain ca- checks must also be carried out.
, (Personal-)Ausweiskontrolle
pacity. Liquids up to a particular quantity When boarding is complete and air-
4. (waste)bin (UK),
have to be packed in specified transparent traffic control (Flugsicherung) has given the
trash/garbage can (US)
, Abfall-, Müllbehälter plastic bags. And you have to dispose of go-ahead, the plane can take off (abheben).
5. passenger flow , Passagierfluss your bottle of mineral water before en-
barrier tapes , Absperrbänder tering the security area. Electric devices, DON’T MIX US UP!
6. chemical sniffer such as hair dryers, and other electronic
The German word Band is translated dif-
, „elektronische Nase“ (Sensorgerät equipment are subject to operational ferently, depending on the context:
zur Identifizierung von Chemikalien) checks. Weapons, explosives (Sprengstof- • Tape refers to a long, narrow strip of ma-
7. security checkpoint fe), corrosives (Ätzmittel) and similar sub- terial used to tie things together or, with
, Sicherheits- und Handgepäckkon- a sticky substance on one side, to stick
stances are not allowed in the cabin and,
trolle things together (Klebeband).
if taken at all, have to be checked in. • Ribbon is a narrow strip of material tied
8. conveyor belt
, Gepäck-, Förderband around a wrapped gift (Geschenkband)
or used for decoration (Dekoband).
9. hand luggage (UK), cabin baggage,
carry-on (US) , Handgepäck WHAT’S GÜLTIG IN ENGLISH? • Volume is a book, often one that is part
The German word gültig is valid in Eng- of a series (Buchband).
10. airport security officer (ASO), • Assembly line is where workers build
transportation security officer (TSO) lish. It is not guilty, which is translated as
schuldig: industrial products (Fließband).
(US) , Flughafensicherheitsbeamter/
• “To travel abroad, a valid passport is • Conveyor belt is a moving strip for
-beamtin
needed.” — Um ins Ausland zu reisen, transporting things or, sometimes, peo-
11. archway/walk-through metal detector ple (Förderband).
, Durchgangsmetalldetektor
braucht man einen gültigen Pass.
• “He feels guilty because he did not alert • Ligament is a strip of tissue in the body
12. pat-down , Abtasten them about the danger.” — Er fühlt sich that connects bones (Band).
handheld metal detector schuldig, weil er sie nicht vor der Gefahr • Family ties refer to the bonds among
, Handsonde, -metalldetektor gewarnt hat. members of a family (Familienbande).
13. full-body scanner
, Ganzkörperscanner
14. X-ray baggage screening

, Gepäckdurchleuchtung mit einem Other useful vocabulary
Röntgenscanner Adjectives
Nouns
15. manual cabin baggage check airside police action detect sth. banned (by law),
, manuelle (Nach-)Kontrolle , Polizeieinsatz , etw. entdecken (legally) prohibited
, luftseitiger Bereich
des Handgepäcks , (gesetzlich) verboten
bomb threat [(bQm Tret] random search monitor sth.
16. waiting area, departure lounge , Bombendrohung , stichprobenartige , etw. beobachten, crucial [(kru:S&l]
, Warte-, Abflugbereich Durchsuchung überwachen , wichtig, wesentlich
CCTV (closed-circuit
17. boarding card (UK), television) pass through (security) irregular , regelwidrig
boarding pass (US) , Bordkarte [)si: si: ti: (vi:] Verbs , (die Sicherheits-
regular, prescribed
18. airline representative , Videoüberwachung beep schleuse) passieren
, vorschriftsmäßig
, Repräsentant(in) einer , piepen, einen Piepton patrol , patrouillieren
hijack alert
Fluggesellschaft abgeben safe
, Entführungsalarm
screen sb./sth. , sicher, wohlbehalten
19. gate , Flugsteig landside confiscate sth. , jmdn./etw. sorgfältig
, etw. beschlagnahmen secure [sI(kjUE]
20. jetway , Fluggastbrücke , landseitiger Bereich untersuchen
, sicher, geborgen
LANGUAGE 12/2023 Business Spotlight 43

SKILL UP!
Health (and sickness) Knowledge check

Husten oder Halsweh? Wichtige Wörter und
As a quick warm-up, start with the following
Redewendungen rund um Gesundheit und Kranksein.
exercise.
Von KAREN RICHARDSON
1. Translate this sentence into German: “I feel
MEDIUM AUDIO PLUS
like I’m getting a cold.”
2. Which of these words is NOT a translation of

krank?
A. ill ■
B. poor ■
C. sick ■
3. How do you say Gute Besserung! in English?
You’ll find the answers on page 47

Word bank
Here, we present the essential vocabulary used to talk about health and sickness.
Key words and expressions feel dizzy , sich schwindelig Help Medical care
fühlen
affordable healthy options physical health booster be referred to a specialist
, preiswerte gesunde , körperliche Gesundheit feel exhausted [Ig(zO:stId] , Auffrischungsimpfung , an einen Spezialisten /
Alternativen , sich abgespannt/ausgelaugt/ eine Spezialistin überwiesen
stay hydrated [haI(dreItId] erschöpft fühlen ergonomic chair
werden
catch a cold , genügend Flüssigkeit , ergonomischer Stuhl
, sich erkälten bekommen feel faint , sich matt fühlen day surgery
get some fresh air
feel run-down , ambulanter Eingriff
exercise strengthen one’s immune , etwas Frischluft bekommen
, Sport; Sport machen system , sich schlapp fühlen doctor’s surgery (UK) /
height-adjustable desk
, sein Immunsystem stärken feel under the weather (ifml.) doctor’s practice
get well , gesund werden , höhenverstellbarer
, sich angeschlagen fühlen , Arztpraxis
Schreibtisch
healthy diet
fever , Fieber first aid , Erste Hilfe
, gesunde Ernährung Symptoms hiking , Wandern
Illustrationen: Anna Bezrukova, Vinh Tran/iStock.com
headache [(hedeIk] health check-up

keep fit , sich fit halten, gesund allergy [(ÄlEdZi] , Allergie power nap
, Kopfweh, -schmerzen , Gesundheitscheck
bleiben , Powernap, kurzes Nickerchen
be ill , krank sein high temperature recover
mental health socialize with sb.
, hohe (Körper-)Temperatur , gesund werden, genesen
, psychische Gesundheit be infectious [In(fekSEs] , Kontakte mit jmdm. pflegen
, ansteckend sein rehab(ilitation) clinic
nutrition [nju(trIS&n] infection , Infektion vaccination
, Reha-Klinik
, Ernährung; Nahrung be sick , krank sein; sich sneeze , Niesen; niesen [)vÄksI(neIS&n]
übergeben , Impfung rest , Ruhe
organic sore throat
, Bio-, ökologisch angebaut cough [kQf] , Halsweh, -schmerzen water dispenser vaccination pass
, Husten; husten , Wasserspender [)vÄksI(neIS&n]
pass on a cold vomit , Erbrechen, Erbro- , Impfpass
, jmdn. mit einer Erkältung diarrhoea [)daIE(rIE] chenes; (sich) erbrechen well-aired
anstecken , Durchfall , gut gelüftet

Grammar check
The imperative
The imperative has the same form as the infinitive of the verb
without “to”. It is used to give orders, instructions and advice,
make suggestions and encourage someone to do something.
It’s often used when doctors give instructions or suggest ac-
tions that someone should take to look after themselves and
stay healthy:
• Take two tablets with a glass of water.
• Wash your hands properly before meals.
• Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day.
“Let’s” + infinitive
Let’s is the short form of “let us”. We use “let’s” + infinitive to
make suggestions or informal proposals. This structure is used
In context to form a first-person plural imperative. Let’s is useful, especially
in spoken English, when you want to sound encouraging rather
than bossy:
Anna and Tom are going through health question- • Let’s arrange a talk on maintaining a healthy diet and good
naires completed by the employees at their company. nutrition.
• Let’s get maintenance to repair the air-conditioning.
Anna: It’s interesting to read what our employees • Let’s offer yoga and keep-fit classes after work.
write about health at work.
Tom: Yes, they make a lot of valid points about it
being the company’s responsibility to support
Exercise 1 E
their mental and physical health.
Anna: There are a lot of comments about the food in In their dialogue, Anna and Tom suggest three actions they
the canteen not being organic. can take together. Complete each sentence with the right
Tom: Let’s set up a meeting with the canteen boss to word from the list.
talk about offering some affordable healthy
options, organic whenever possible. make sure | reintroduce | set up
Anna: This suggestion about having more water
dispensers on each floor is a good one, too. It’s 1. Let’s a meeting with the canteen boss...
important that employees stay hydrated. We 2. And let’s we include a workshop…
could provide bottles so they can take water 3. Let’s some of the things that were cancelled
back to their workspaces if they want. because of the pandemic.
You’ll find the answers on page 47
Tom: Good idea. And let’s make sure we include a
workshop on diet and nutrition during our
next Health Day.
Exercise 2 M
Anna: Yes, health at work is not only about adjusta-
For each situation, complete these polite suggestions with
ble desks, ergonomic chairs, and making sure
let’s plus an appropriate infinitive verb.
the offices and factory floors are well aired —
even though those things are important.
1. It’s lunchtime and you’re waiting for your colleague:
Tom: There are lots of comments about socializ-
to the canteen now.
ing with colleagues. It seems a lot of people
2. It’s a lovely sunny day and you’d like to eat outside:
missed that while working from home.
on the terrace today.
Anna: I’m not surprised. Socializing is an important
3. It’s a cold day, but your office feels airless:
part of well-being.
I know it’s cold, but all the windows for
Tom: Let’s reintroduce some of the things that were
five minutes to let some fresh air in.
cancelled because of the pandemic. We could
4. Your colleague has cut her finger and needs your help:
organize a hiking day and other activities, like
if we can find a plaster in the
the five-a-side football tournament.
Foto: Morsa Images/iStock.com
first-aid kit.
questionnaire factory floor tournament
5. You’ve finished eating and still have 15 minutes of your
[)kwestSE(neE] , Fabrik-, Werkshalle [(tUEnEmEnt] lunch break left:
, Fragebogen , Turnier a short walk along the river before we
five-a-side football
valid point (UK) go back to the office.
, berechtigtes , 5er-Fußball You’ll find the answers on page 47
Argument

Common collocations prescription
Here are some key word partnerships with “sick”.
“sick” + noun
sick bay , Krankensta- sick leave sick note
tion; auch: Krankenzimmer , Krankenstand, krank- , Krankschreibung
heitsbedingte Abwesenheit
sick day , Krankheitstag
(phrasal) verb + “sick”
be written off sick call in sick go home sick

recipe
, krankgeschrieben sein , sich krankmelden , krank nach Hause gehen
feel sick
, sich krank fühlen
infections
oyees regarding
Memo to all empl
winter
and illnesses this
of absentee-
To limit the amount k days —
of sic
ism and numbe
and to stop inf
r
ec tio ns spreading False friends
u to follow
— we kindly ask yo
Many words in German and English

these instructions: seem similar but have very different meanings.
a sick bay
We no longer have
have a high
on-site, so if you
h or feel sick,
temperature, a coug What’s (ärztliches) Rezept in English?
supervisor
please inform yo
that you need to
ur
go ho
th
me sick.
in tw o days, you do not ne
ed to do anything
k
• The doctor gave me a prescription for
antibiotics.
If you feel be tte r wi d need to go on sic
we ve r, if yo u co nt inue to feel unwell an off sick and make
else. Ho ite you
k your doctor to wr rtment. It’s not “recipe”!
leave, you must as th e HR de pa
is sent to
sure your sick note recipe [(resEpi] = (Koch-)Rezept
absenteeism
cough [kQf] , Huste
n
department
s)
HR (human resource
, Personalabteilun
g
• Can you give me the recipe for these
energy bars? They’re delicious!
[)ÄbsEn(ti:)IzEm] supervisor
, Fehlzeit(en) , Vorgesetzte(r)
on-site
, hier: am Stando
rt
Cartoon: Harry Bliss via cartoonstock.com Fotos: FG Trade, NickyLloyd/iStock.com

Cartoon
“Way too general practitioner”
When British people need to see a doctor, they go to

their GP — which means “general practitioner” (also
called “family doctor” or “family practitioner”). This is
someone trained in general medicine who treats peo-
ple in their local community, rather than at a hospital. In
the US, this type of doctor is often called a “primary care
physician” (PCP). As they see a wide range of patients,
GPs need broad but not specialized medical knowledge.
way (ifml.) rather than

, hier: viel , anstatt, und nicht
general practitioner (UK) physician [fI(zIS&n]

, Allgemeinarzt/-ärztin , Arzt/Ärztin, Mediziner(in)

MARKTPLATZ – MARKETPLACE
Typical Sprachkurse und Sprachferien
mistake
Can you correct the common error(s)
Learn English in Cornwall
in the following sentence?
ONLINE COURSES
“It’s important to look for NOW AVAILABLE
your health.” www.learnenglishincornwall.co.uk
Julie Tamblin MA - 0044 (0) 1208 871 184
Vivez une expérience d'immersion dans la langue,

la vie et la culture françaises à Douarnenez, une
petite ville bretonne au bord de l'océan!
You’ll find the answer below
• Cours en individuel ou en groupe de trois
participants maximum
• Cours sur mesure
• Activités de découverte culturelle
• Rencontres sur le terrain
• Visites et excursions dans la région
• Expériences de situations authentiques
(jeux, cuisine, sorties...)
• Hébergement dans des familles d‘accueil
ou en privé
www.francais-en-bretagne.com | info@francais-en-bretagne.com
Progress check Lernen Sie Italienisch,
wo Italien zu Hause ist!
Replace each German word or phrase below Möchten Sie Italienisch lernen
und das Piemont mit seiner Kultur,
(in italics) with its correct English equivalent.
der vorzüglichen Küche und den
ausgezeichneten Weinen entdecken?
1. Socializing with colleagues can have a positive
effect on your (psychische Dann kommen Sie zu uns!
Gesundheit). Hier wohnen Sie in gemütlichen
Appartements und lernen die
2. I have a terrible (Kopf- Sprache – individuell abgestimmt
weh) and a(n) (Halsweh). auf Ihre Wünsche und Vorkenntnisse.
3. You’ve been off sick for four days now, so we La Cascina dei Banditi
need a(n) (Krankschrei- Tel . +39 331 6525424
bung) from your doctor. www.la-cascina-dei-banditi.com
4. When you come for your booster, don’t forget
to bring your (Impfpass). Nächste
Anzeigentermine:
You’ll find the answers below Ausgabe Anzeigenschluss
02/2024 08.12.2023 WERDEN SIE JETZT GASTFAMILIE UND
ENTDECKEN SIE ZU HAUSE DIE WELT!
03/2024 12.01.2024
040 22 70 02 -0
ANSWERS 04/2024 23.02.2024 www.yfu.de | gastfamilie@yfu.de
Knowledge check Typical mistake
1. Ich fühle mich, als würde ich “It’s important to look after your
eine Erkältung bekommen. health.” Kontakt für Anzeigenkunden
2. B. But “poorly” is a word that Note: “look after sth.” (sich um
means krank
3. Get well soon!
etw. kümmern); “look for sth.” (etw.
suchen)
+49-89/85681-131
Grammar check Progress check
ZEIT SPRACHEN GmbH – Ihr Ansprechpartner
Exercise 1 1. mental health für Beratung und Verkauf
1. set up 2. headache; sore throat
2. make sure 3. sick note
3. reintroduce 4. vaccination pass
sales@zeit-sprachen.de
Exercise 2 (suggested answers)
1. Let’s go
2. Let’s eat / sit / have lunch
3. let’s open
4. Let’s look / see
5. Let’s have / take / go for
LANGUAGE 47
TEST
Test your
language skills!
Testen Sie nun Ihre sprachlichen Kompetenzen.
Die Übungen auf diesen zwei Seiten basieren
auf Artikeln dieser Ausgabe.
Von DAGMAR TAYLOR

EASY MEDIUM ADVANCED
1. What does it mean? M 2. Salary transparency E
The profile on Simon Beckerman, “Building communities” In “Say what you pay” (pp. 18–21), you can
(pp. 12–13), contains many useful expressions. Decide read about why some people want more pay
whether the following statements are correct or incorrect. transparency at work. Match the nouns (1–5)
from the article to their definitions (A–E).
Correct Incorrect
1. If someone is acquainted with something, 1. adjustment

they are familiar with something, having read, 2. obligation
seen or experienced it. ■ ■ 3. secrecy
4. shift
2. The net worth of an individual is the amount 5. tension
of money that is owed by them. ■ ■
A. a change in opinion, mood, policy, etc.
3. When a company releases a product, they
make it available for the public to buy. ■ ■ B. something that you must do because you have
promised, because of a law, etc.
4. Something that is replicable is morally wrong
and deserving of criticism. ■ ■ C. feelings of fear or anger between people who
do not trust each other
5. Someone who is described as up-and-coming
is likely to achieve success soon or in the near D. a small change made to something in order to
Fotos: eyetoeyePIX/Stock.com
future. ■ ■ correct or improve it
6. If you venture into something, you start E. the fact of making sure that nothing is known
doing something by chance, without having about something
intended to do it. ■ ■
1– ■; 2– ■; 3– ■; 4– ■; 5– ■

3. For your safety E 4. Cleaning soil with hemp M
In the English for... section (pp. 42–43), we present In “Cleaning the earth” (pp. 24–25), you can read about
useful expressions for talking about airport security. a start-up that is cleaning up contaminated soil around
Complete this dialogue with the English translation the world. Choose the correct option to complete each
of the German words in brackets. statement.
Manuela: How many pieces of (1) (Hand- 1. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as
gepäck) are we allowed? “forever chemicals”, do not in the
Xavier: An eight-kilogram bag and a smaller piece of environment or in the body.
luggage, like a handbag. A. break down B. break out
Manuela: Oh, good. I was worried it was only one bag.
Security 2. Elena Doms entrepreneur Frederik
officer: [raised voice] Belts and jackets off, please, and Verstraete and, together, they founded Earth Plus to
pockets emptied. Make sure your phones and apply nature-based solutions to reduce CO2 and re-
electronics are visible in the (2) move PFAS from soil.
(Wanne), then place it on the (3) A. reached out to B. stretched out to
(Gepäck-, Förderband) in front of you.
Manuela: Excuse me? Do I have to take my shoes off? 3. The PFAS in the industrial hemp leaves are destroyed
Security by them at 1,400 degrees Celsius.
officer: No, you’re fine. [raised voice] All liquids must A. exhilarating B. incinerating
be in a transparent, resealable bag. Only one
bag per person. There’s a(n) (4) 4. The hemp stems are used to make products, such as
(Abfall-, Müllbehälter) here for any liquids you poles and insulation, locking in the CO2 that has been
can’t take through security. .
Manuela: Where do I go now? A. captured B. escaped
Xavier: Stand over there and wait your turn to
go through the (5) (Ganz- 5. Earth Plus hopes to its operations
körperscanner) — and hope it doesn’t by working with multinationals and governments.
(6) (einen Piepton abgeben)! A. scale up B. size up
ANSWERS 3. For your safety

5. Paternal bonds A
1. hand luggage
Test your language skills!
2. tray
In “Professional dads” (pp. 34–37), you can read about 1. What does it mean? 3. conveyor belt
1. Correct (be acquainted with sth. = 4. bin
fathers’ experiences of paternity leave. Complete the
mit etw. vertraut sein) 5. full-body scanner
sentences below using the adjectives from the list. 2. Incorrect. The “net worth” of an 6. beep
individual is their total wealth.
hands-on | mandated | precious | statutory | untenable (net worth = (Rein-)Vermögen) 4. Cleaning soil with hemp
3. Correct (release sth. = etw. 1–A (break down = sich
1. In the UK, more government funding is needed, so that herausbringen) abbauen, sich zersetzen);
parental pay at least matches the 4. Incorrect. Something that is “rep- 2–A (reach out to sb. (US)=
real living wage, which is £13.15 an hour in London. licable” can be produced again zu jmdm. Kontakt aufneh-
exactly as the original. (replicable men); 3–B (incinerate sth.
2. With an increasingly remote workforce, employers in = replizierbar) = etw. verbrennen); 4–A
the US must follow a growing patchwork of state laws. 5. Correct (the up-and-coming = (capture sth. = hier: etw.
It’s and isn’t working for anyone. Nachwuchstalente) abscheiden); 5–A (scale sth.
3. The US is the only developed nation without 6. Incorrect. If you “venture into up = etw. vergrößern; hier:
something”, you do it despite the ausbauen)
paid parental leave.
risks involved. (venture into sth. =
4. With a lack of role models for fa- sich in etw. hineinwagen) 5. Paternal bonds
thers, and a fear of underperformance, many men pre- 1. statutory = gesetzlich
fer to leave the role to their female partners. 2. Salary transparency 2. untenable = unhaltbar
1–D (adjustment = Berichtigung) 3. mandated = hier: gesetz-
5. Aerospace engineer Steffen Rolfes says that he found 2–B (obligation = Verpflichtung) lich vorgeschrieben
parenting very tiring at times, but experiencing 3–E (secrecy = Verschwiegenheit; 4. hands-on = zupackend;
moments, like his daughter’s first auch: Heimlichtuerei) hier: sich aktiv beteili-
word, made it all worth it. 4–A (shift = Wandel) gend
5–C (tension = Spannung(en)) 5. precious = wertvoll

QUIZ
The business of
Christmas
Testen Sie hier Ihr Wissen rund um das
Weihnachtsgeschäft.
MEDIUM AUDIO
C
hristmas is an expensive time
for many of us. With extra
costs for food, travel, gifts and
socializing, people’s purse
strings feel the pinch in December. Find
out more about the business of Christmas
around the world.
1. Which character first appeared in 5. What event devastated turkey farm- 9. When was the first commercial
1939, when the US department store ers in the USA and in the UK before Christmas card sent?
Montgomery Ward asked a copy- Christmas 2022? a) 1843
writer to create a Christmas story to a) an outbreak of avian influenza b) 1943
give away to shoppers? b) a series of winter storms c) 1963
a) the Grinch c) a long drought
b) Mrs Santa 10. In 2022, what percentage of Ameri-
c) Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer 6. What percentage of Americans trav- cans said they were going to buy tra-
elled during Christmas 2022? ditional gifts (instead of homemade
2. Compared to their average monthly a) 11% presents or experiences)?
income, the households of which b) 25% a) 10%
nation were expected to spend the c) 47% b) 74%
most on Christmas in 2022? c) 99%
a) Lebanon 7. In the UK, charitable donations
b) United Kingdom ___ at Christmas.
c) India a) increase by 5% socializing , Geselligkeit Christmas cracker (UK)
b) decrease by 10% , Knallbonbon
purse strings
3. In 2020, American Express found c) remain the same , hier: Finanzen devastate sb.
that Brits spend an average of ___ on , jmdm. schwer zusetzen
feel the pinch (UK)
stocking fillers. 8. Which popular Christmas gift was , die Belastung spüren turkey , Truthahn
a) £10 designed by a professor of architec- department store avian [(eIviEn]
b) £45 ture in Budapest to teach students , Kaufhaus , Vogel-
c) £99 about spatial awareness? copywriter drought [draUt]

a) tangrams , Werbetexter(in) , Dürre
4. The Christmas cracker was invented b) Rubik’s Cube reindeer , Rentier charitable donation
, Spende an eine karita-
in the 1840s, and a British Christmas c) Lego stocking fillers (UK)
tive Einrichtung
without them is now unthinkable. , kleine Geschenke, mit
denen Weihnachtsstrümpfe spatial [(speIS&l]
Around how many Christmas crack- befüllt werden , räumlich; Raum-
ers are sold in the UK each year?
Fotos: Shutterstock.com
a) 1 million
b) 150 million produced Christmas card; 10. b)
c) 300 million 6. c); 7. a); 8. b); 9. a) English illustrator John Callcott Horsley designed the first commercially
Answers: 1. c); 2. a) an expected 688 per cent of their average monthly income; 3. b); 4. b); 5. a);
50 Business Spotlight 12/2023 FREESTYLE

ISSUE 1/2024
ächste
Die n n
be vo
Ausga tlight
s s Spo
ine
Bus int am
e
ersch 2023
Deze mber
15.
Decisions, decisions
Can artificial intelligence make
decisions for you? We explain
how decision intelligence helps
businesses make big decisions
with less risk.
Ukraine Railways Liam Carpenter ...and more!

For millions of people fleeing The 27-year-old from England • Iceland’s only forensic
the Russian war, Ukraine Rail- talks about his success bridg- pathologist
ways has been a lifeline. We ing cultural gaps and creating a • How to write effective emails
look at the logistics that have booming business with funny • A new way to invest in art
kept the country moving and videos about German cultural • Change is good! How to sell it
its people safe. stereotypes. to your team
impressum leserservice
Chefredakteurin Geschäftsführer Litho Fragen Konditionen
Judith Gilbert (V.i.S.d.P.) Ulrich Sommer Mohn Media Mohndruck GmbH zum Abonnement und zu Abonnement pro Ausgabe
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Vogel Druck & Medienservice GmbH, Sie 24 Stunden täglich unter: und Versandkosten
Vertriebsleitung
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PREVIEW 12/2023 Business Spotlight 51

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ENGLISCH 12

Dress for success

Mit Business Spotlight mehr als

“So this is Christmas,

The Imagine Peace

editorial Ukraine [ju(kreIn] billboard

EDITORIAL 12/2023 Business Spotlight 3

4 Business Spotlight 12/2023 CONTENTS

€ 5,50 (D) | € 6,30 (A) | sfr 8,70 (CH)

How to find — and keep —

ZEIT für Englisch Newsletter —

Our free weekly newsletter with

Business Spotlight in the Classroom

Online and social media

You can find more business English content at:

Language in Business Spotlight

➻ Articles that use American style, spelling, punctuation and

Approximately Approximately at Approximately at

CONTENTS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 5

On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Ukraine [ju(kreIn] eclipse sth. [I(klIps]

displace sb. tension

persecution , Verfolgung wage war

, Menschenrechtsverletzung drone , Drohne

Times Square, New York City, 1969. During

Good night appetite , Unternehmer(in)

ingredient [In(gri:diEnt] Source: Oxford University

8 Business Spotlight 12/2023 TRENDS

Starting a new job can be stressful, but on

item , Artikel property , Eigentum; hier: reveal sth.

vomit , sich erbrechen deaden sth.

TRENDS Business Spotlight 12/2023 9

People you (don’t) know

crypto-forensics assets , Vermögenswerte

Latest valuation Latest valuation

10 Business Spotlight 12/2023 TRENDS

The world is getting heavier. About two-

Heatwaves are most dangerous to those who can

greenery shade , hier: suspended: be ~

neighbourhood canopy [(kÄnEpi] gap , Lücke

TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 11

Von RACHEL PREECE

TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 13

Von RICHARD MOTE

look like me” sash , Schärpe

bewerb lean on sb. , sich auf , in etw. antreten

Diversity and politics

apolitical oral history run for sth.

Are business trips

Interviews: MELITA CAMERON-WOOD

16 Business Spotlight 12/2023 TRENDS

Mehr zu diesem Thema

TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 17

Say what you pay

have been enacted in the U.S. requiring employers to include

TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 19

Changing a culture of secrecy

20 Business Spotlight 12/2023 TRENDS

TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 21

Where has everyone

A country grows old

TRENDS 12/2023 Business Spotlight 23

Cleaning the earth

spur sb. into a career pollution