Employment/Work (Part 1): Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS (Band 7+)

Kasturika Samanta

7 min read

Updated On Jun 24, 2025

Master employment/work advanced vocabulary for IELTS 7.0+ with this guide. Improve your IELTS Reading, Writing, and Speaking scores on work and career topics by mastering job-related vocabulary with example sentences and completing practice exercises.

Employment/Work: Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS
Additional Vocabulary for IELTS Work Topics
Exercises Based on Advanced Employment Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +
Answer Key for Exercises Based on Advanced Employment Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +
Additional Resources for Improving Your Employment Vocabulary for IELTS

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Employment and work-related vocabulary frequently appear in IELTS Reading, Writing Task 2, and Speaking Part 1 & 3. From discussions on job satisfaction to benefits and hiring practices, you must demonstrate the ability to use precise, formal, and context-appropriate vocabulary to score Band 7.0 or higher.

In this blog, you will explore an IELTS vocabulary list from common employment contexts, complete with definitions and example sentences derived from real IELTS-style activities, followed by practice exercises to give you a comprehensive learning opportunity.

Employment/Work: Advanced Vocabulary for IELTS

In IELTS, lexical resource is an important scoring criterion, and only learning what is lexical resource in IELTS will not help you to achieve 7+. For that, you need to boost your vocabulary with employment/work-related words. It will help you express ideas about job roles, labor rights, salary, gender issues in the workplace, and industrial relations confidently.

Therefore, look at the vocabulary table below that includes the word, its meaning, and an original example sentence to illustrate real-world usage.

Term	Definition	Example Sentence
Hiring policy	A company’s official approach to recruiting staff	The company’s hiring policy prioritizes internal candidates for promotion.
Blue-collar worker	A manual laborer, typically in manufacturing or construction	As a blue-collar worker, he faced harsher working conditions than his white-collar peers.
Benefit in kind	Non-cash benefits given to employees	A company car is a typical benefit in kind offered to senior staff.
Unemployment benefit	Government payments to jobless individuals	After the factory closure, hundreds of workers applied for unemployment benefits.
Employment tribunal	A legal body that resolves work-related disputes	She won her case at the employment tribunal for wrongful termination.
Constructive dismissal	When an employee resigns due to employer behavior	The manager’s bullying led to her constructive dismissal claim.
Social insurance	Public insurance covering health, pension, etc.	He contributed to social insurance for decades before retiring.
Glass ceiling	Invisible barrier preventing advancement of minorities	Despite her qualifications, she hit the glass ceiling in upper management.
Working conditions	The environment, safety, and terms in which employees work	Poor working conditions led to staff protests and a walkout.
Performance appraisal	A formal review of an employee’s job performance	His annual performance appraisal reflected significant improvement.
Shop steward	A union representative in a workplace	The shop steward voiced employee concerns during negotiations.
Salary freeze	A halt on pay increases due to financial constraints	The company announced a salary freeze for the next fiscal year.
Pay dispute	Conflict over salary between employers and employees	The pay dispute triggered a two-week strike.
Career prospects	Opportunities for future career advancement	She moved abroad for better career prospects.
Office politics	Power struggles and maneuvering in a workplace	He avoided office politics by staying focused on his work.
Maternity leave	Authorized time off work for childbirth and infant care	She will return to work after six months of maternity leave.
Pay slip	A document showing an employee’s earnings and deductions	My pay slip included overtime payments and tax deductions.
Job specification	A detailed description of job duties and qualifications	The job specification listed five years of experience as essential.

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Additional Vocabulary for IELTS Work Topics

Apart from general employment IELTS vocabulary, you need to learn some additional terms that are commonly found in IELTS Writing Task 2 essays and speaking discussions related to employment, workplace challenges, and economic trends. Using these will give you an edge over other IELTS aspirants and make it easier for you to achieve your desired score.

Look at the table below to find out a few of those IELTS employment vocabulary words and phrases that will come in handy during the exam.

Word	Definition	Example Sentence
Gig economy	An economic system of short-term contracts or freelance work	The gig economy offers flexibility but lacks job security.
Workforce	The total number of people employed or available to work	Companies are investing in AI to supplement the aging workforce.
Redundancy	The state of being no longer needed in a job	She was made redundant due to company restructuring.
Remote work	Working from a location outside the office, often from home	Remote work became the norm after the pandemic.
Job security	The likelihood of maintaining one's job	Public sector jobs often offer greater job security.
Employee turnover	The rate at which staff leave and are replaced	High employee turnover reflects poor management practices.

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Exercises Based on Advanced Employment Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +

You cannot improve your IELTS band score by merely knowing the definition of a word and a few sentences. In order to learn how to use it properly, you must practice vocabulary exercises that transfer words from short-term to long-term memory, which will help your brain recall them for longer.

Therefore, the IELTS employment vocabulary tasks listed below will help you increase your vocabulary and make better word choices.

Job Matters

A. Match the words in Column A with their strongest collocates in Column B.

Column A	Answer	Column B
(a) glass		(i) in kind
(b) shop		(ii) appraisal
(c) performance		(iii) prospects
(d) working		(iv) specification
(e) career		(v) practice
(f) pay		(vi) insurance
(g) job		(vii) slip
(h) pay		(viii) conditions
(i) employment		(ix) worker
(j) salary		(x) politics
(k) Blue-collar		(xi) benefit
(l) constructive		(xii) dismissal
(m) unemployment		(xiii) freeze
(n) social		(xiv) dispute
(o) office		(xv) tribunal
(p) maternity		(xvi) leave
(q) hiring		(xvii) steward
(r) benefit		(xviii) ceiling

B. Now use the collocations from (A) above to fill the gaps in the sentences below. You should use each collocation once only, and you will not need to change the form.

I would question their ____________ on the basis of the fact that the rate of turnover of staff is so high; clearly they are not finding the right people.
Look, I’ve no illusions of grandeur; I’m a ____________ and I’m never going to climb the corporate ladder and become some high-flyer; it’s the factory slog for me from now until the day I retire.
My company car is a(n) ____________ ; I would sorely miss it were I to move to another job that did not offer the same perks.
I have been claiming ____________ since I lost my job in April of last year.
I took them to a(n) ____________ and the panel of experts sided with me and awarded me compensation in the sum of £4,500.
You might have a case for ____________ there if you feel you were forced out for airing a genuine grievance.
I paid ____________ for over 40 years so I have no guilt about claiming benefits now that I am out of work.
There is a(n) ____________ in this industry and the truth is that women are not allowed to progress beyond a certain point in the hierarchy.
My____________ aren’t great, but then being exposed to hazardous chemicals is simply par for the course in my line of work, I suppose.
My quarterly ____________ went very well; my ratings were good and I was praised for my efforts by my line manager.
The ____________ is going to accompany me to the meeting with the HR Manager and make my case in relation to the dispute over the disciplinary measures the company is trying to take against me.
A ____________ is in place so the likelihood of me getting another raise is nil; besides, my current salary is right at the top end of the pay scale.
The ongoing ____________ looks likely to harm the company from a PR perspective and could also yet result in strike action being taken by the employees affected.
I consider my ____________ rather good on account of my good education and track record.
____________ is a fact of life in most companies, I’m afraid. The best person for the job is not always the one who gets it; often it is more a question of who is on better terms with the boss.
I’m going on ____________ in six weeks’ time; the baby is due at the end of January.
My ____________ is not looking so healthy at the moment; I have not been doing as much overtime of late so my take-home pay is down considerably.
The ____________ has all the details you need to know about the nature of the role.

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Answer Key for Exercises Based on Advanced Employment Vocabulary for IELTS 7.0 +

Now that you’ve practiced the IELTS Vocabulary exercises on employment, let us evaluate your score and assess your ability to apply them in the IELTS Speaking and writing exams for an IELTS band score of 7+.

Job Matters

(A)

a. xviii	g. iv	m. xi
b. xvii	h. xiv	n. vi
c. ii	i. xv	o. x
d. viii	j. xiii	p. xvi
e. iii	k. ix	q. v
f. vii	l. xii	r. i

(B)

hiring policy
blue-collar worker
benefit in kind
unemployment benefit
employment tribunal
constructive dismissal
social insurance
glass ceiling
working conditions
performance appraisal
shop steward
salary freeze
pay dispute
career prospects
office politics
maternity leave
pay slip
job specification

Additional Resources for Improving Your Employment Vocabulary for IELTS

Here are some additional links to help you learn more employment/work vocabulary for IELTS:

To sum up, the topic of employment is essential to IELTS exam preparation. Whether you are writing about job satisfaction, discussing economic conditions, or describing your own work life, using advanced employment vocabulary adds clarity and fluency to your answers. So, keep practising with exercises, collocations, and real-world examples. The more you use this vocabulary, the more naturally it will come to you on test day.

Useful Links: