The shipping company, AP Moller-Maersk, is going to cut 3,500 jobs because there is less demand for shipping and the rates are lower. This is after the company already cut 6,500 jobs earlier in the year. Maersk, which ships goods for big stores like Nike, said its profits fell by 92% in its most recent report. The cost of shipping goods went up a lot in the first year of the pandemic, but now, because prices are high and interest rates are rising, people are spending less and there is less demand. Maersk thinks that cutting these jobs will save the company £600m next year.

Maersk’s latest report suggests that the world economy is slowing down, says Russ Mould, an investment director at AJ Bell. Maersk is one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, so people look at it to see how the world’s economy is doing. The company’s profits before tax fell to $691m in the three months to September, compared to $9.1bn in the same time last year. Sales also fell from $22.7bn to $12.1bn. The cost of shipping has gone down a lot in the past six months, which has helped some stores lower their prices.

The shipping industry has been hurt by having too much capacity, which has made prices fall and led to job cuts. Maersk’s job cuts will make its worldwide workforce less than 100,000. The company has not said where or what types of jobs will be affected. It warned that a slower world economy, financial stress, and tensions between countries could hurt its income and profits in the last part of this year and in 2024.

Original news source: Maersk cuts 10,000 jobs as shipping demand falls (BBC)

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Group or Classroom Activities

Warm-up Activities:

– News Summary
Instructions: Have the students read the article and then summarize the main points in their own words. They can take turns sharing their summaries with a partner or small group.

– Opinion Poll
Instructions: Divide the class into small groups. Have each group discuss and share their opinions on the following question: “Do you think the job cuts at Maersk are a result of the pandemic? Why or why not?” After the discussion, each group can present their opinions to the whole class.

– Vocabulary Pictionary
Instructions: Write down key vocabulary words from the article on separate pieces of paper. Divide the class into pairs or small groups. One student from each group will draw a word from the pile and try to draw a picture that represents the word without using any letters or numbers. The other students in the group will try to guess the word based on the drawing.

– Pros and Cons
Instructions: Have the students make a list of the pros and cons of the job cuts at Maersk. They can do this individually or in pairs. Afterward, have a class discussion where students share their lists and discuss their reasoning.

– Future Predictions
Instructions: Ask the students to think about and discuss the future of the shipping industry. Will it recover from the current challenges? What changes might occur? Have them share their predictions with a partner or small group, and then have a class discussion where students can present their predictions to the whole class.

Comprehension Questions:

1. Why is the shipping company, AP Moller-Maersk, cutting jobs?
2. What happened to Maersk’s profits in their most recent report?
3. Why did the cost of shipping goods go up in the first year of the pandemic?
4. Why are people spending less on shipping goods now?
5. What does Maersk think cutting jobs will do for the company?
6. Why do people look at Maersk to see how the world’s economy is doing?
7. Why has the shipping industry been hurt?
Go to answers ⇩

Listen and Fill in the Gaps:

The shipping company, AP Moller-(1)______, is going to cut 3,500 jobs because there is less demand for shipping and the (2)______ are lower. This is after the company already cut 6,500 jobs earlier in the (3)______. Maersk, which ships goods for big stores like Nike, said its profits fell by 92% in its most recent report. The cost of shipping goods went up a lot in the first year of the pandemic, but now, because prices are high and interest rates are rising, people are spending (4)______ and there is less demand. Maersk thinks that cutting these jobs will save the (5)______ £600m next year.

Maersk’s latest report suggests that the world economy is slowing down, says Russ Mould, an investment director at AJ (6)______. Maersk is one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, so people look at it to see how the world’s economy is doing. The company’s profits before tax fell to $691m in the three (7)______ to (8)______, compared to $9.1bn in the same time (9)______ year. Sales also fell from $22.7bn to $12.1bn. The cost of shipping has gone down a lot in the past six months, which has helped some stores lower their prices.

The shipping industry has been hurt by having too much capacity, which has made prices fall and led to job cuts. Maersk’s job cuts will make its worldwide workforce less than 100,000. The company has not (10)______ where or what types of (11)______ will be affected. It warned that a slower world economy, financial (12)______, and tensions between countries could hurt its income and profits in the last part of this year and in 2024.
Go to answers ⇩

Discussion Questions:

Students can ask a partner these questions, or discuss them as a group.

1. What is a shipping company?
2. How would you feel if you lost your job?
3. Do you think it’s important for big stores to ship their goods around the world? Why or why not?
4. Do you like buying things online? Why or why not?
5. What do you think might happen if there is less demand for shipping?
6. How do you think the pandemic affected the cost of shipping goods?
7. What do you think it means when the article says the world economy is slowing down?
8. Do you think it’s fair for companies to cut jobs to save money? Why or why not?
9. Why do you think the shipping industry has too much capacity?
10. How do you think tensions between countries could hurt a shipping company’s income and profits?
11. Have you ever seen a big shipping container? What did it look like?
12. Do you think the shipping industry will recover from this downturn? Why or why not?

Individual Activities

Vocabulary Meanings:

Match each word to its meaning.

Words:
1. shipping
2. company
3. jobs
4. demand
5. rates
6. profits
7. economy
8. prices

Meanings:
(a) A group of people who work together to sell or provide a product or service
(b) Tasks or work that people do to earn money
(c) The amount of people who want to buy or use something
(d) The cost or price of something
(e) The system of producing, selling, and using goods and services in a country or region
(f) The amount of money that something costs or is sold for
(g) The act of sending things from one place to another
(h) The money that a business makes after paying all its expenses
Go to answers ⇩

Multiple Choice Questions:

1. Why is AP Moller-Maersk cutting jobs?
(a) They want to save money for next year.
(b) There is less demand for shipping and lower rates.
(c) The world economy is slowing down.
(d) They want to make their workforce smaller.

2. What happened to Maersk’s profits in their most recent report?
(a) They increased by 92%.
(b) They fell by 92%.
(c) They stayed the same.
(d) They doubled.

3. What caused the cost of shipping to go up in the first year of the pandemic?
(a) The prices of goods went up.
(b) People were spending more.
(c) Interest rates were rising.
(d) There was high demand for shipping.

4. Why are people spending less on shipping now?
(a) The cost of shipping has gone down.
(b) Maersk cut jobs.
(c) The world economy is slowing down.
(d) Prices are high and interest rates are rising.

5. What does Maersk’s job cuts mean for its worldwide workforce?
(a) It will be less than 100,000.
(b) It will be more than 100,000.
(c) It will stay the same.
(d) It will be 6,500.

6. What did Maersk warn could hurt its income and profits?
(a) Lower shipping rates.
(b) Higher demand for shipping.
(c) A slower world economy, financial stress, and tensions between countries.
(d) Higher interest rates.

7. What has hurt the shipping industry?
(a) Having too little capacity.
(b) Higher shipping rates.
(c) Having too much capacity.
(d) Higher demand for shipping.

8. What has helped some stores lower their prices?
(a) Maersk’s job cuts.
(b) Higher demand for shipping.
(c) Higher interest rates.
(d) The cost of shipping going down.

Go to answers ⇩

True or False Questions:

1. Maersk thinks that cutting these jobs will save the company £600m next year.
2. The cost of shipping goods went up a lot in the first year of the pandemic, but now people are spending less and there is less demand.
3. Maersk, which ships goods for big stores like Nike, said its profits rose by 92% in its most recent report.
4. The shipping company AP Moller-Maersk is going to cut 3,500 jobs because there is less demand for shipping and the rates are lower.
5. Maersk’s job cuts will make its worldwide workforce less than 100,000.
6. The cost of shipping has increased a lot in the past six months, which has made it harder for stores to lower their prices.
7. Maersk’s latest report suggests that the world economy is booming.
8. The company’s profits before tax increased to $691m in the three months to September, compared to $9.1bn in the same time last year.
Go to answers ⇩

Write a Summary:

Write a summary of this news article in two sentences.

Writing Questions:

Answer the following questions. Write as much as you can for each answer.

1. Why is the shipping company, AP Moller-Maersk, cutting jobs?
2. How much did Maersk’s profits fall by in its most recent report?
3. Why are people spending less on shipping goods now?
4. Why do people look at Maersk to see how the world’s economy is doing?
5. What are some reasons that Maersk’s income and profits could be hurt in the future?

Answers

Comprehension Question Answers:

1. Why is the shipping company, AP Moller-Maersk, cutting jobs?
Because there is less demand for shipping and the rates are lower.

2. What happened to Maersk’s profits in their most recent report?
Their profits fell by 92%.

3. Why did the cost of shipping goods go up in the first year of the pandemic?
Because prices were high and interest rates were rising.

4. Why are people spending less on shipping goods now?
Because prices are high and interest rates are rising, so people are spending less.

5. What does Maersk think cutting jobs will do for the company?
Maersk thinks cutting jobs will save the company £600m next year.

6. Why do people look at Maersk to see how the world’s economy is doing?
Because Maersk is one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, so its performance reflects the state of the global economy.

7. Why has the shipping industry been hurt?
The shipping industry has been hurt because there is too much capacity, which has caused prices to fall and led to job cuts.
Go back to questions ⇧

Listen and Fill in the Gaps Answers:

(1) Maersk
(2) rates
(3) year
(4) less
(5) company
(6) Bell
(7) months
(8) September
(9) last
(10) said
(11) jobs
(12) stress
Go back to questions ⇧

Vocabulary Meanings Answers:

1. shipping
Answer: (g) The act of sending things from one place to another

2. company
Answer: (a) A group of people who work together to sell or provide a product or service

3. jobs
Answer: (b) Tasks or work that people do to earn money

4. demand
Answer: (c) The amount of people who want to buy or use something

5. rates
Answer: (d) The cost or price of something

6. profits
Answer: (h) The money that a business makes after paying all its expenses

7. economy
Answer: (e) The system of producing, selling, and using goods and services in a country or region

8. prices
Answer: (f) The amount of money that something costs or is sold for
Go back to questions ⇧

Multiple Choice Answers:

1. Why is AP Moller-Maersk cutting jobs?
Answer: (b) There is less demand for shipping and lower rates.

2. What happened to Maersk’s profits in their most recent report?
Answer: (b) They fell by 92%.

3. What caused the cost of shipping to go up in the first year of the pandemic?
Answer: (a) The prices of goods went up.

4. Why are people spending less on shipping now?
Answer: (d) Prices are high and interest rates are rising.

5. What does Maersk’s job cuts mean for its worldwide workforce?
Answer: (a) It will be less than 100,000.

6. What did Maersk warn could hurt its income and profits?
Answer: (c) A slower world economy, financial stress, and tensions between countries.

7. What has hurt the shipping industry?
Answer: (c) Having too much capacity.

8. What has helped some stores lower their prices?
Answer: (d) The cost of shipping going down.
Go back to questions ⇧

True or False Answers:

1. Maersk thinks that cutting these jobs will save the company £600m next year. (Answer: True)
2. The cost of shipping goods went up a lot in the first year of the pandemic, but now people are spending less and there is less demand. (Answer: True)
3. Maersk, which ships goods for big stores like Nike, said its profits rose by 92% in its most recent report. (Answer: False)
4. The shipping company AP Moller-Maersk is going to cut 3,500 jobs because there is less demand for shipping and the rates are lower. (Answer: True)
5. Maersk’s job cuts will make its worldwide workforce less than 100,000. (Answer: True)
6. The cost of shipping has increased a lot in the past six months, which has made it harder for stores to lower their prices. (Answer: False)
7. Maersk’s latest report suggests that the world economy is booming. (Answer: False)
8. The company’s profits before tax increased to $691m in the three months to September, compared to $9.1bn in the same time last year. (Answer: False)
Go back to questions ⇧