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新西兰试行每周四天工作
添加时间:2018-04-02 19:04:14 浏览次数: 作者:未知
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  • On the first long weekend of her employer’s experiment with a four-day working week, Kirsten Taylor freaked out a little bit. Like a housework hurricane, she got through mounds1 of clothes-washing, weeded the garden, cleaned the windows and mowed2 the lawn.

    在公司首次试验四天工作制的第一个长周末,柯尔斯顿·泰勒感觉有点抓狂。就像经历了一场家务飓风,她洗了一大堆衣服,除了花园的杂草,擦了窗户,还修剪了草坪。

    It had been lovely to spend extra time with her 21-month-old son, but by the end of the third day off she was shattered.

    能够和21个月大的儿子共度更多时光本来是件很好的事,但是到第三天快结束时她感觉自己要崩溃了。

    “I actually found that day really hard. I ran myself ragged,” laughs Taylor, who is a solo mother. “I hadn’t yet programmed that routine into my life. I thought: I don’t know when the next one of these is coming, I better get everything done. I don’t think I did it well, but heck it was a productive day!”

    身为单身母亲的泰勒大笑着说:“事实上,我觉得第三天很难熬。我把自己累坏了。我还没有将这种长周末纳入常规生活。我在想,不知道下一个长周末会是什么时候,所以我最好把一切事情都干完。我觉得自己干得不够好,但这一天还真是非常高效!”

    Taylor is one of 200 employees at New Zealand trustee company Perpetual Guardian3, which is halfway4 through a six-week long trial which could have profound implications for the future of labour. Staff are working four days a week but getting paid for five.

    泰勒是新西兰信托公司Perpetual Guardian200名员工中的一位。该公司正在试行为期六周的每周四天工作制,目前正进行到一半。员工每周工作四天,但却能得到五天的薪水。这次试验可能会对劳动力的未来产生深远影响。

    The experiment began in early March and will conclude in mid-April, after which productivity data will be collated5 and analysed. Employees will find out if the new routine will be adopted full-time6 in July.

    这次试验是从三月初开始的,将在四月中旬结束,之后会整理和分析生产率数据。该工作制是否会长期实施将在7月揭晓。

    New Zealanders work an average of 1,752 hours a year, making them close to average compared with their OECD peers. Germans spend the least amount of time working annually7, closely followed by Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, while Mexicans, Koreans and Costa Ricans clock the most.

    新西兰人每年平均工作1752个小时,接近经济合作与发展组织其他成员国的平均水平。德国人每年的平均工作时间是最短的,其次是丹麦人、挪威人和荷兰人,而墨西哥人、韩国人和哥斯达黎加人的工作时间是最长的。

    Luxembourg is the most productive country in the world, despite its workers toiling8 away for an average of only 29 hours per week.

    卢森堡是世界上生产率最高的国家,尽管他们的劳动力每周平均工作时间只有29小时。

    Last year the Autonomy Institute made renewed calls for the implementation9 of a four-day week, saying it would help even out the unhealthy distribution of work and shift the focus to producing better work in a shorter time.

    去年自治学会再次呼吁实施每周四天工作制,声称这将平衡不健康的工作分配,将重心转移到在更短时间内做出更好的业绩。

    Christine Brotherton, head of people and capability10 for Perpetual Guardian, said many employees brought a similar level of focus to making the most of the extra day off as they would apply to their work.

    Perpetual Guardian公司人力部主任克里斯汀·布拉泽顿说,许多员工都会将投入到工作中的同等精力投入到多出的那一天假期,以实现最大化利用。

    “People have been thinking quite hard about that third day off and how best to use it so it can change their life. Some people come back to work and are incredibly energised,” says Brotherton.

    布拉泽顿说:“人们努力地思考如何充分利用第三天假期,从而改变自己的生活。有些人回到公司工作,而且奇迹般地充满活力。”

    “People have been training for marathons, going to the dentist, getting their car serviced, or doing the shopping for their elderly parents. All the stuff that has been put on the back burner, but either helps themselves or their family. Life administration. ”

    “人们进行马拉松训练、去看牙医、把车送去保养,或为年迈的父母购物。去做所有想做但被搁置的事情,对自己或家人有用的事情。管理自己的生活。”

    “But some people haven’t quite realised that if we have three days off, the four at the office have to be very productive, and we need to address that,” she adds.

    她补充说:“但是有些人还未完全意识到,如果我们放三天假,那么工作的那四天必须效率很高,而我们需要解决这个问题。”

    Amazon is reportedly piloting a 30-hour work week for some employees. Whilst workers on the 30-hour work week receive the same benefits as full-time employees, they earn 75% of the salary – and results aren’t in yet on the pilot’s outcomes. KPMG and Deloitte offer four-day work weeks to some employees (with certain conditions attached), while Google allows some employees full control over 20% of their working week, hoping that the creative freedom will lead to new ideas and innovations.

    据报道,亚马逊正在一部分员工当中试行30小时工作周。每周工作30小时的这些员工虽然能享受和全日制员工同样的福利,但是前者的工资是后者的四分之三。目前这个试行项目还没有出结果。毕马威和德勤的某些员工可以每周工作四天,但是有一定的附加条件。谷歌则允许一些员工随心支配工作周中超过20%的时间,希望这种创作自由可以引发新想法和创意。

    Perpetual Guardian’s CEO, Andrew Barnes, a Briton, says the experiment is generating interesting data, which will be analysed by academics at two leading New Zealand universities before a decision on extending the trial is made.

    Perpetual Guardian公司的首席执行官、英国人安德鲁·巴恩斯说,这个试验正在产生有趣的数据,来自两所新西兰一流大学的学者们将对这些数据进行分析,然后再决定是否延长试行期。

    According to Barnes, some employees have found the reduced time to complete their work stressful. “People were really positive going in, then a bit negative, then positive again,” says Barnes. “In general terms, people are more positive because they are suddenly able to do things that they otherwise couldn’t do.”

    巴恩斯说,一些员工因为完成工作的时间变短而感到压力重重。他说:“刚开始人们真的很积极,然后会有点消极,接着又会变得积极。普遍来说,人们变得更积极了,因为他们突然能够做那些本来做不了的事了。”

    Supporters of reduced working hours have been cheering on the trial. “I don’t feel the pressure for it to succeed, but I think my staff do. People are telling me: we have to make this work for New Zealand,” says Barnes.

    支持缩短工作时间的人一直在为这个试验欢呼。巴恩斯说:“没有压力迫使我非把这件事做成不可,但我认为我的员工有压力。人们告诉我:为了新西兰,我们必须让这个试验成功。”

    “From my point of view, it’s very difficult as an owner of a business to see any way that this is not positive for me at the moment.”

    “从我的角度出发,作为企业主,我目前还难以看到这种工作制对我有什么不利。”

    But he expressed disappointment at the lack of interest in the trial shown by the New Zealand government, despite its potential implications for addressing issues from work/life balance and the gender11 pay gap to the health and mental wellbeing of working New Zealanders.

    虽然新工作制有望解决工作与生活平衡、男女收入差异以及新西兰工作者身心健康等方面的问题,但新西兰政府对此缺乏兴趣,他有些失望。

    Having survived her day of housework, Kirsten Taylor has now settled into the new routine. She loves spending more time with her son, saving money on childcare and getting through her to-do list. Her personality and “head down, bum12 up” work style suit the arrangement perfectly13, she says.

    好不容易结束了干家务的一天,柯尔斯顿·泰勒现在适应了新常规。她喜欢和儿子共度更多时光,省下了一些托管费,也做了更多想做的事。她说,她的性格和“埋头苦干”的工作风格与新的工作制非常合拍。

    While her colleagues still socialise during the work day, the office space is quieter and more concentrated, and “water-cooler chats” are briefer. “I am feeling significantly better equipped when I begin the work week now,” she says.

    尽管她的同事们仍然会在工作日进行一些社交活动,但是办公室变得安静了,人们工作时的注意力更集中了,办公室里的闲聊时间也变短了。她说:“现在当我开始一周的工作时,我感觉自己精力更充沛了。”

    “[The trial] was definitely more pressurised than I would ever have expected. But now I am nervous about when it ends. I don’t know anyone who wants to return to the old routine.”

    “试验期间的工作压力肯定比我预计的更大。但现在我担心的是试行期结束了该怎么办。我认为没有人想回到过去那种工作制。”

     9级    英语新闻 


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    1 mounds [maundz] dd943890a7780b264a2a6c1fa8d084a3   第9级
    土堆,土丘( mound的名词复数 ); 一大堆
    参考例句:
    • We had mounds of tasteless rice. 我们有成堆成堆的淡而无味的米饭。
    • Ah! and there's the cemetery' - cemetery, he must have meant. 'You see the mounds? 啊,这就是同墓,”——我想他要说的一定是公墓,“看到那些土墩了吗?
    2 mowed [məud] 19a6e054ba8c2bc553dcc339ac433294   第9级
    v.刈,割( mow的过去式和过去分词 )
    参考例句:
    • The enemy were mowed down with machine-gun fire. 敌人被机枪的火力扫倒。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
    • Men mowed the wide lawns and seeded them. 人们割了大片草地的草,然后在上面播种。 来自辞典例句
    3 guardian [ˈgɑ:diən] 8ekxv   第7级
    n.监护人;守卫者,保护者
    参考例句:
    • The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
    • The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。
    4 halfway [ˌhɑ:fˈweɪ] Xrvzdq   第8级
    adj.中途的,不彻底的,部分的;adv.半路地,在中途,在半途
    参考例句:
    • We had got only halfway when it began to get dark. 走到半路,天就黑了。
    • In study the worst danger is give up halfway. 在学习上,最忌讳的是有始无终。
    5 collated [kəˈleɪtid] 36df79bfd7bdf62b3b44f1a6f476ea69   第10级
    v.校对( collate的过去式和过去分词 );整理;核对;整理(文件或书等)
    参考例句:
    • When both versions of the story were collated,major discrepancies were found. 在将这个故事的两个版本对照后,找出了主要的不符之处。 来自《简明英汉词典》
    • Information was collated from several data centers around the country. 信息从城市四周的几个数据中心得到校对。 来自互联网
    6 full-time [ˈfʊlˈtaɪm] SsBz42   第8级
    adj.满工作日的或工作周的,全时间的
    参考例句:
    • A full-time job may be too much for her. 全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
    • I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job. 既要照顾家庭又要全天工作,我不知道她是如何对付的。
    7 annually [ˈænjuəli] VzYzNO   第9级
    adv.一年一次,每年
    参考例句:
    • Many migratory birds visit this lake annually. 许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
    • They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually. 他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。
    8 toiling ['tɔɪlɪŋ] 9e6f5a89c05478ce0b1205d063d361e5   第8级
    长时间或辛苦地工作( toil的现在分词 ); 艰难缓慢地移动,跋涉
    参考例句:
    • The fiery orator contrasted the idle rich with the toiling working classes. 这位激昂的演说家把无所事事的富人同终日辛劳的工人阶级进行了对比。
    • She felt like a beetle toiling in the dust. She was filled with repulsion. 她觉得自己像只甲虫在地里挣扎,心中涌满愤恨。
    9 implementation [ˌimplimen'teiʃən] 2awxV   第7级
    n.实施,贯彻
    参考例句:
    • Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。
    10 capability [ˌkeɪpəˈbɪləti] JsGzZ   第7级
    n.能力;才能;(pl)可发展的能力或特性等
    参考例句:
    • She has the capability to become a very fine actress. 她有潜力成为杰出演员。
    • Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability. 组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。
    11 gender [ˈdʒendə(r)] slSyD   第8级
    n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性
    参考例句:
    • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns. 法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。
    • Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender. 妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
    12 bum [bʌm] Asnzb   第10级
    n.臀部;流浪汉,乞丐;vt.乞求,乞讨
    参考例句:
    • A man pinched her bum on the train so she hit him. 在火车上有人捏她屁股,她打了那人。
    • The penniless man had to bum a ride home. 那个身无分文的人只好乞求搭车回家。
    13 perfectly [ˈpɜ:fɪktli] 8Mzxb   第8级
    adv.完美地,无可非议地,彻底地
    参考例句:
    • The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said. 证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
    • Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board. 我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

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