• You will hear five short recordings．Five people are talking about work and

M：I’m a Unix/Linux systems administrator，with 18-years of full-time，handson experience in corporate and academic settings，including six years at Teheran University．Yet，when I returned to the US two years ago，I was unemployed for 51 weeks；now I’m unemployed again，for 31 weeks．Why?--Because I don’t have a college degree in Computer Science．Some managers in HR decided it would be an easy way to narrow the field of the applicants；—they just didn’t bother with non-college-graduates．Motivation means nothing to me if I couldn’t get settled with a job．And，anyway．It is better than staying at home or idling away your time and then going to the employment center regularly to get your monthly unemployment allowance．Basically，you need the money you earn to survive．
   Speaker Two
F：I am a professional that actively seeks to make a difference fOr my company．I’ve tried various meth-ods，such as taking on new projects，or even creating my own，and I’ve also offered suggestions for improvement．Unfortunately，my boss has always seemed either dumb or deaf．I see that prudence is necessary as we’re such a big and complicated organization which enjoys a long history and prestige in the industry，but I do get bored doing the repetitive chores daily．So I’m going to talk to my su-pewisor and find out the exact path of advancement that is open．I truly wonder which opportunities are in there and exactly what I need to do today to experience them down the road．I iust wanted to see more excitement and variety added to my career．
   Speaker Three
M：The atmosphere here is quite flexible and I didn’t meet much difficulty when I decided to make the change．The thing is，I love my job now and the only thing I worry about is my security of tenure．There seems to be such a high turnover rate in the company．I’m only here for 4 months and I’ve seen two new HR managers already．I guess in an IT company，it’s common to see the software developers come and go，but for such positions in administration，well，I don’t know．Motivational tools such as free lunches and bonuses really help me get motivated.In a way，for people who love their work，this could be seen as very good compensations for the relatively low payment．In my opinion，bonuses are a very good way in recognizing my performance and contribution to the company．  
   Speaker Four
F：I especially like the attitude of‘I will make my work fun wherever I find myself’，but sometimes it’s easier said than done．I’d been working on this project for the past 3 months with everything going on smoothly，but suddenly，my supewisor told me that they had just grabbed someone from the competing company．I really hate this—having someone dropping in from … eh，God knows where，and saying，oh，well，we’ve decided to change the rules，etc．I was just so tired．I have in fact seen many companies that get the extrinsic factors like money or bonus right，but completely neglect the intrinsic，um，like respect and atmosphere in the company．Every attempt to motivate people is through yet another bonus or incentive scheme．And it fails completely．Employees are disengaged and leave the company the second they get a better offer．
   Speaker Five
M：I wasn’t happy to be going out there when there was already so much that had to be dealt with．I understand that there are occasions I have to attend，considering my position and responsibilities．but with such a heavy workload，I feel sometimes that I just can’t find the right balance，I mean，it has actually influenced my family and sometimes I wonder if it’s really worth it．For most people．I can see that whatever your personal reasons for working，the bottom line，however，is that almost everyone works for money and living．To underplay the importance of money and benefits to people who work is a mistake．As for me，I work for personal fulfillment．I just like to accomplish goals and feel as if they are contributing to something larger than themselves．something important but it shouldn’t be at the cost of feeling terribly stressed．