Something being something

[cooliegirly]

"It had been widely forecast that they would move out en masse, financial work being among the most quantiative and computerized of functions."

The second half the sentence seems having no relation with the first half and is confusing to me. Could someone explain what exactly does it mean?

[Yankee]

Hi Cooliegirly

What's the sentence that comes before your posted sentence? That probably tells you who the word "they" refers to --- which will probably help clarify things.

It sounds like the relocating of or outsourcing of entire financial departments (or something like that) is being referred to. And this sort of work had been specifically targeted (maybe for cost-cutting purposes?) because the work is seen as easy to measure and computerize.

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[cooliegirly]

Hi Amy,

Sure, the sentence before was "It is because of this centrality of the city that the financial markets have stayed put." Thanks, your explaination helped me understanding the meaning of the sentence but I still don't know how the meaning is conveyed in this particular sentence structure, like if I see this type of sentence structure again, I wouldn't be able to understand the meaning still. I was just wondering...how would you say "financial work being among the most quantiative and computerized of functions" in another way? Thank you so much.

CG

[Yankee]

Hi Cooliegirly

... financial work being among the most quantiative and computerized of functions.

A quick rewording of the structure would be:

... because/in view of the fact that financial work is among the most quantiative and computerized of functions

Amy
_________________
Amy
.
ESL teacher, translator, and a native speaker of American English

[cooliegirly]

Ah, got it!