Final Word from Thursday, June 11, 2015
Universum's Most Attractive Employers 2015 ranking tells us something about the changes in the country over the past year, a year in which "oligarch" became standard lexicon in Czech business and politics. Billionaires tightened their grip on Czech society, but their standing among business students went mainly in the other direction. A year ago, PPF was the No. 22 most-attractive employer; now it is No. 31. Its Air Bank unit fell from No. 25 to No. 36. J&T Banka dropped from No. 30 to No. 33 and Agrofert from No. 34 to No. 38. Of the Five Families, only Penta bucked the trend, jumping from No. 51 to No. 32, gorilla or no gorilla. International companies such as Google, Škoda Auto/VW and Coca-Cola did especially well this year. Perhaps most worryingly, the state administration is now the No. 4 destination for Czech business students. Is it because of the job security, or the bribe opportunities from the rapid oligarchization? [Czech Republic]
Glossary of difficult words
ranking - a position in a scale of achievement or status;
lexicon - the vocabulary of a person, language or branch of knowledge;
standing - position, status or reputation;
to buck (a trend) - to go against something that seems inevitable or oppressive;
gorilla - the widely used term for a corruption scandal in Slovakia.