首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
The wave of job cuts sweeping through the utility sector gathered pace yesterday with 800 more redundancies planned by two elect
The wave of job cuts sweeping through the utility sector gathered pace yesterday with 800 more redundancies planned by two elect
admin
2010-05-14
81
问题
The wave of job cuts sweeping through the utility sector gathered pace yesterday with 800 more redundancies planned by two electricity groups joining forces in order to meet regulator’s price demands and improve efficiency.
Trade unions expressed anger that the announcement by two foreign-owned utilities, London Electricity and Eastern Electricity, came during the period immediately before Christmas. They noted that it arrived on the back of nearly 1,300 other job losses in this sector since early October.
Half of the 160,000 jobs in the electricity sector have gone since privatization in 1988.
More than 2,000 redundancies have also been announced recently by water companies, and more are expected from United Utilities as they, too, seek to meet tougher regulatory targets.
Not everyone in the industry is convinced that the current spate of job cuts in the utility sector is justified.
One leading industry executive, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "I am very concerned that companies are using the regulators’ price cut as an excuse for carrying out general cuts that they have wanted to do for some time. It is causing disquiet among utilities customers."
If regulatory approval is given London Electricity --a unit of Electricite de France --and Eastern Electricity, controlled by American conglomerate Texas Utilities, will form a joint venture from April 1, 2000, which will run their respective electricity distribution businesses.
The companies will continue to compete on the supply and billing side of their operations but hope the new alliance will be able to win third party business, whether in electricity or other sectors such as gas.
The 800 job losses mean a quarter of the jobs affected by the joint venture will be lost within 18 months, and that the remaining positions will be dependant on the general level of business activity.
The two companies plan to achieve cost savings through fewer workers, having a single information system, a smaller number of buildings and buying more in bulk.
Phil Turbeville, chief executive of Texas Utilities’ TXS Europe subsidiary, said: "It is the responsible management response to the challenges of the tough price control while delivering further improvements in customer service."
He added that customers would benefit because lower costs meant more money available for new investment, and denied that the decision could have been made at a better time or would have been different if it had not been a foreign-owned group.
"Whether we told staff just before Christmas or just after it would have been the same. There is no good time to make redundancies. As you can see from what Scottish-based utilities have been doing, this is nothing to do with Paris or Texas. It is just prudent management," Mr. Turbeville said.
The phrase "gathered pace" in the first paragraph most probably refers to ______.
选项
A、speeded up
B、slowed down
C、continued
D、ended
答案
A
解析
抓住第一段中一个关键词“more”,表明在原有基础上,又有更多的人被裁减。因此,根据此意思可推出答案A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/rIlO777K
0
专业英语八级
相关试题推荐
ThestoryofNokia’stransformationfromanobscureFinnishconglomerateintotheworld’slargestmakerofmobilephonesisano
They’resmug,egotistical,andalreadythinktheyrunthecountry(ifnottheworld).Sowhat’stherestofthenationtodonow
Radio’sgotaproblem.Althoughsome200millionpeopletuneineachweektoheartheirfavoriteovercaffeinatedDJorcatchtho
ThisiswhatAfricahasinabundance,space,almost12millionsquaremilesofdesert,savanna,coastline,andpeople,700milli
LasVegaswasfounded【B1】______yearsagoandwasofficially【B2】______in1905.Sincethen,LasVegashastransformeditselfint
A、AnAmericanwomanlivinginthesuburbswhosetimeisoftenspenttransportingherchildrenfromoneathleticactivityoreven
InBolivia,lifeisslowlyreturningtonormalafteralmostamonthofdemonstrations.【C1】______—frompoorpeasantfarmerstomi
ThenovelEmnzaiswrittenby______.
TheScarletLetterwaswrittenby________.
A、.com.net,.organd.govB、.biz,.infoC、.name,.proD、.museum,.aero.and.coopA
随机试题
堂吉诃德的形象。
国家主席习近平2019年9月17日签署主席令,根据十三届全国人大常委会第十三次会议17日下午表决通过的全国人大常委会关于授予国家勋章和国家荣誉称号的决定,被授予国家勋章、国家荣誉称号的一共有()。
下列叙述中不符合我国中药管理规定的是
1911年公布的《十九信条》的特点是:()
对指定分包商的任何违约行为给业主或第三者造成损害而导致索赔或诉讼,承包商不承担责任。()
下列选项中,不属于事故调查组要明确的问题的是()。
证券公司开展融资融券业务试点,必须经中国证券业协会批准。( )
证券公司应当负责集合资产管理计划资产净值估值等会计核算业务,并由()进行复核。
某金融机构为增值税一般纳税人,以1个季度为纳税期限,2017年第一季度发生下列业务:(1)提供贷款服务取得不含税贷款利息收入1200万元,提供货币兑换服务取得不含税收入25万元。发生人员工资支出65万元。(2)转让金融商品,卖出价10557.60万元,
计算机的主存储器(内存)用来存储数据和指令,为了实现按地址访问,每个存储单元必须有一个惟一的地址。PC机主存储器的编址最小单位是______。
最新回复
(
0
)