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Lesson

B2EN

Budget Cuts: Who Survives?

Practice first and second conditionals for negotiation through a brutal budget crisis. The CEO just announced a 30% cut — every department must fight for survival. Decide what stays, what goes, and how to negotiate when there's not enough money for everyone. A practical B2/C1 English lesson on conditionals for negotiation, financial vocabulary, and strategic argumentation. Ideal for adult learners, English tutors, and language schools.

#business english#b2#c1#conditionals#negotiation#budget#decision making#strategy
7 Activities

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1

What Goes First? Sorting

Sorting

Individual

Cut first (painful but survivable):

The annual company retreat in Barcelona — €45,000Free snacks and drinks in the office kitchen — €18,000/yearThe PR agency retainer — €60,000/yearSponsoring a local football team — €25,000/yearUpgrading office furniture that still works — €30,000The company magazine that nobody reads — €12,000/year

Protect at all costs:

Salaries and bonuses for the top 5 salespeople who bring in 60% of revenueThe IT security budget — last year's cyber attack cost €200,000Training budget for new employees — without it, onboarding takes 3x longerThe customer support team — they handle 400 calls per dayRaw materials for production — without them, nothing shipsHealth insurance for all employees — legally required in most countries
2

Finance and Negotiation Vocabulary. Taboo

Taboo

Individual

  • Budget

    • money
    • spend
    • plan
    • amount
    • allocate

  • Revenue

    • income
    • sales
    • money
    • earn
    • profit

  • Overhead

    • costs
    • office
    • rent
    • fixed
    • running

  • Headcount

    • people
    • employees
    • staff
    • number
    • workers

  • Forecast

    • predict
    • future
    • estimate
    • expect
    • plan

  • Margin

    • profit
    • percentage
    • difference
    • cost
    • price

  • Austerity

    • saving
    • cutting
    • less
    • reduce
    • strict

  • ROI

    • return
    • investment
    • profit
    • value
    • money

  • Redundancy

    • fire
    • job
    • lose
    • cut
    • dismiss

  • Reallocate

    • move
    • budget
    • shift
    • transfer
    • change
3

Lesson Board

Lesson Board

Shared
Interactive whiteboard — available during live session
4

The Art of the Deal. Word Choice

Word Choice

Individual
  • If we cutwill cutwould cut the travel budget by half, we'll save approximately €80,000 this year.
  • If you agreed to freeze hiring for six months, I couldwouldwill drop my request for new equipment.
  • If we don't reduce headcount now, we would have tohad towill have to make deeper cuts next quarter.
  • What would happen if we will outsourceoutsourcedoutsource customer support instead of keeping it in-house?
  • If the sales team hithitswould hit their Q3 targets, we won't need to touch the marketing budget.
  • If I amwaswere you, I would protect the R&D budget — that's where future revenue comes from.
  • We could save €50,000 if we movemovedwill move to a smaller office.
  • If you gavegivewould give me six months, I will prove that this investment pays for itself.
  • Would you consider a temporary pay cut if it meantmeanswould mean nobody loses their job?
  • If we had investedinvestedwould invest in automation last year, we wouldn't be in this situation now.
5

Four Departments, One Budget — Who Makes the Best Case? Jigsaw Reading

Jigsaw Reading

Individual

Sales Department

The Head of Sales stood up and said: "If you cut my team's budget, revenue drops. It's that simple. Last year, every €1 we spent on sales generated €8 in revenue. Cut my travel budget and I can't visit clients. Cut my bonuses and my best people leave for competitors. If you want to save the company, invest in the team that brings in the money. If anything, my budget should go up, not down. Cut somewhere else."

R&D Department

The Head of R&D spoke quietly but firmly: "If you cut R&D, you save money today and kill the company in three years. We have two products in the pipeline that could generate €5 million annually. If we stop now, we lose 18 months of work and €400,000 already invested. Our competitors are not cutting R&D — they are doubling it. If we fall behind now, we will never catch up. I would rather cut my own salary than lose a single researcher."

Marketing Department

The CMO presented data: "I know marketing looks like an easy target. But if we go silent for six months, our brand awareness will drop by 40%. Our competitors will fill the gap. When we try to come back, it will cost us three times more to rebuild what we lost. If you gave me a reduced budget, I could shift from paid advertising to organic content — it's slower but sustainable. But if you cut me to zero, you are telling the market we have given up."

Operations Department

The Head of Operations was blunt: "You can't cut operations without breaking something. We run the warehouse, the logistics, and the supply chain. If you reduce my headcount, deliveries slow down. If deliveries slow down, customers complain. If customers complain, sales drop. Every €1 you save in operations will cost you €3 in lost orders. I'm not asking you to protect my budget because I want to — I'm asking because the maths doesn't work any other way."

Comprehension questions

  1. Which department made the most convincing argument for keeping their budget? Why?
  2. Which department could absorb the deepest cuts with the least damage?
  3. If you were the CEO, how would you distribute the 30% cut across these four departments?
6

The Budget War. Mission Briefing

Mission Briefing

Individual

Scenario

The CEO has announced an immediate 30% budget cut across the company. Total savings needed: €900,000. Each department head must propose where cuts should come from — preferably from someone else's budget. The CFO chairs the meeting and has final say. The team must agree on a plan within 15 minutes. If they can't agree, the CFO will decide alone — and nobody will be happy.

  • Head of Sales

    Your current budget is €1.2 million. You refuse to cut more than 5%. Every cut to sales directly reduces revenue. You have the numbers to prove it.

    Must use: Your real concern: you privately know that two of your top salespeople are already interviewing at competitors. If bonuses are cut, they will leave within a month — taking their client relationships with them. Reveal this only if someone proposes cutting sales bonuses.

  • Head of R&D

    Your current budget is €800,000. You can accept a 15% cut if you delay one project by six months. But you cannot lose any researchers — hiring replacements takes a year.

    Must use: Your real concern: the delayed project is actually for a client who has already paid a €200,000 deposit. If you delay, you breach the contract and owe the money back. You haven't told anyone about this contract yet. Reveal only if someone pushes for a deeper R&D cut.

  • CMO

    Your current budget is €600,000. You are willing to cut 25% by shifting from paid ads to organic content. But you need three months for the transition — cutting immediately would create a gap.

    Must use: Your real concern: you spent €80,000 on a campaign last month that completely flopped. If the CFO sees the results, your credibility is gone. You want to move past it without anyone asking about recent campaign performance.

  • CFO

    You chair this meeting. You need €900,000 in savings. You don't care where they come from as long as the total adds up and the plan is realistic. You have veto power.

    Must use: Your real concern: the CEO told you privately that if the budget meeting fails, the board will consider selling the company. Nobody else knows this. Use it only as a last resort to force a decision.

7

Hard Truths About Money. Speed Debate

Speed Debate

Shared
  1. If a company needs to cut costs, reducing headcount is always more effective than cutting budgets.
  2. The sales team should always be the last department to face budget cuts because they generate revenue.
  3. Companies that cut R&D budgets during a crisis never recover their competitive advantage.
  4. If employees agreed to a temporary 10% pay cut to save jobs, would that be fair or exploitative?
  5. Marketing is the first budget that gets cut because nobody can prove exactly what it does.
  6. A good leader would cut their own salary before cutting anyone else's budget.
  7. Budget cuts always hit the people at the bottom harder than the people at the top.
  8. If a company is badly managed, budget cuts just slow down the inevitable collapse.
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