📙 Part 2: Describe a company where you live that employs a lot of people

This episode's vocabulary

Employer (noun) - a person or organization that employs people.

Publishing house (noun) - a company that publishes books.

To have fingers in many pies (idiom) - to be involved in and have influence over many different activities, often in a way that people do not approve of.

To produce (verb) - to make something or bring something into existence.

Figurine (noun) - a small model of a human, usually made of clay or porcelain.

Employee (noun) - someone who is paid to work for someone else.

Former (adj.) - of or in an earlier time; before the present time or in the past.

Subsidiary (noun) - a company that is owned by a larger company.

Branch off (phrasal verb) - if a road or path branches off, it goes in another direction.

Parent company (noun) - a company that controls other smaller companies.

Refined (adj.) - improved because of many small changes that have been made.

Board of directors (noun) - the group of people who shareholders choose to manage a company or organization.

Mishmash (noun) - a confused mixture.

Bound up (adj.) - closely connected or involved.

To wane (verb) - to become weaker in strength or influence.

Disposal (noun) - the act of getting rid of something, especially by throwing it away.

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Questions and Answers

M: Rory is going to describe a company where he lives that employs out of people. Yes, it's a bit strange. Describe a company where you live, that employs a lot of people. Rory is going to say, what the company does, how many people it employs, what kind of people work there, and how he feels about it. Roro, are you all ready to go?

R: I'm ready to rock and roll.

M: Yes, please rock and roll. Off you go. You have two minutes to talk about this.

R: Well, in some ways, this is quite a difficult subject because there aren't many large employers where I live. But the one that comes to mind most easily, I suppose is. It's a company called DC Thomson & Co. Ltd. And it's a publishing house, it's got its fingers in many pies, actually. Despite the fact that it's a publishing house on the face of it. They produce a wide variety of publications and products across many genres and markets. It's not just magazines and books, for example, it's products and figurines that go with the characters in these things, for example. I'm not sure about the exact figure in terms of employees, but it seems almost everyone in my hometown and a few people outside of it have some personal connection to it, whether it's being a former employee, or a current one, indeed, or the relative of an employee, that kind of thing. Right now there are at least 2000 people I would say, and possibly a lot more if we take into account all the subsidiaries and the other companies that branch off from the main one that the parent company. Like I said, the product portfolio is quite diverse, and so are the employees. You look at them and you... Everyone from sort of growth mechanic types to more refined members on the board of directors. So it's quite a mishmash in that sense. Well, I haven't worked very near so I can see why people consider it a key part of our community. It's sort of bound up in the classic idea of Dundee for those of you who don't know or for people that don't know that's jute, jam, and journalism. DC Thompson contributes to the journalism part of that. And it'll be interesting to see how it carries this into the future, to be honest, because of course, print media isn't, it's considered to be a dying or a waning industry. So if they can take that online with the technology they have at their disposal, then that would be great.

M: And what about your friends? Do they like this company?

R: Um, the ones that have worked for it did, um, but of course, the ones that haven't don't know much about it.

M: Thank you very much, Rory.

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