VOA慢速英语2021--硅谷发现远程工作开始容易结束难

Technology companies that led the change into remote work when the pandemic started are facing a new difficulty: how, when, or if they should bring employees back into the office.

The return to the office has become more difficult because of the spread of the delta¹ variant². Many tech companies had plans to bring employees back around Labor³ Day, September 6. Microsoft, a major tech company, pushed its date to October. Other tech companies like Apple, Google, Facebook, Amazon, and a growing list of others have already decided⁴ to wait until next year.

Since they influenced starting remote work, tech companies' return-to-office policies will likely affect other industries. Laura Boudreau is a Columbia University assistant economies professor. She believes these employers⁵' next steps could redefine where and how people work.

Boudreau says we have moved past the idea that remote work is "a temporary thing." She said it has become harder to tell employees they must return to the office after the pandemic.

Most tech jobs are perfect for remote work because they involve program and online products. Yet, most major tech companies want their employees to be ready to work in the office two or three days a week at the end of the pandemic.

That is because tech companies believe employees who work near each other are more creative. It is one reason why major tech companies have spent billions to build new offices with appealing common areas.

Christy lake is the chief people officer for business programming maker⁶ Twilio. She says there is no research to support the idea that people are more creative when they are together

Twilio is not bringing back most of its 6,300 or so employees to its offices until next year. It also plans to permit most of them to decide how often they should come in.

Nearly two-thirds of the 200 plus companies that were questioned in July in the Bay area, the major tech center in California, said they expect their workers to come in the office two or three days each week.

The Bay Area Council⁷ is a business policy group that did the research. It found 70 percent of these employers required their workers to be in the office before the pandemic.

Even Zoom⁸, the video-calling service that became widely used during the pandemic, says most of its employees want to come into the office part-time. Kelly Steckelberg is Zoom's chief financial officer. She recently wrote "There isn't a one-size-fits-all approach to returning to the office."

But the largest tech companies are not giving their employees a choice. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have all made it clear they want most of their workers together some days each week to keep their culture.

Ed Zitron runs a public relations firm representing technology companies. It has been fully⁹ remote since it began in 2012. He says the only reason to have an office is to make managers happy "so that they can look at them and feel good about the people that they own ... so that they can enjoy that power."

Working part-time in the office is perfect for people like Kelly Soderlund. She is a mother of two young children. She works¹⁰ for the travel management company TripActions in California. She could not wait to return to the offices in June. She missed the mental break that the one-hour trip to work gave between her personal and professional life.

"When I don't have that, I wake up in the morning, I start doing work and I take my kids to their camp or their daycare," Soderlund says. "And then I come back and I work and then we pick them up, make dinner and then I go back to work. So, it feels like it's just work all the time."

Words in This Story

remote – adj. connected to a computer system from another place

variant – n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

video – n. of, relating to, or involving moving images that are shown on a television or computer screen

approach – n. a way of dealing¹¹ with something : a way of doing or thinking about something

manage – v. to have control of (something, such as a business, department, or sports team)

1 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

2 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 employers   

雇主( employer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• The onus is on employers to follow health and safety laws. 雇主有义务遵行健康安全法。

6 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

7 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

8 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。