2020年经济学人 熊彼特企业管理专栏--疫情造成的欧美失业潮(3)

The use of furloughs represents a change from previous slumps¹, says Sandra Sucher of Harvard Business School. Common in Europe during the financial crisis of 2007-09, they were barely used in America. Since then, however, many American firms who laid off workers found subsequent rehiring so difficult that they are loth to suffer the ordeal² again, she says.

哈佛商学院的桑德拉·苏凯尔说，休假的使用代表了从以前的萧条中产生的变化。在2007年至2009年的金融危机期间，它们在欧洲很常见，但在美国却很少使用。然而，从那时起，许多解雇工人的美国公司发现随后的重新招聘是如此困难，他们不愿意再遭受这样的折磨，她说。

Another difference with past recessions is the way American firms are encouraging inactive workers to switch jobs to fill temporary vacancies³ in other industries. Hilton, for instance, is helping⁴ its suspended workers to apply for jobs at e-commerce firms like Amazon. This may help keep the labour market relatively⁵ fluid at a time of severe stress. (Amid employee absences and increased orders, some workers at Amazon, for instance, are demanding better conditions.) It is also well-suited to the time horizons of the pandemic. As social-distancing measures recede⁶, some of the disease- specific demand for labour will ebb⁷, enabling workers to return to their old jobs.

与以往经济衰退的另一个不同之处在于，美国公司鼓励不活跃的工人换工作来填补其他行业的临时空缺。例如，希尔顿酒店正在帮助其被停职的员工申请亚马逊等电子商务公司的工作。这可能有助于在严重压力时期保持劳动力市场相对的流动性。（例如，在员工缺席和订单增加的情况下，亚马逊的一些员工要求改善工作条件。）它也非常适合疫情的时间范围。随着社会疏远措施的退步，一些针对特定疾病的劳动力需求将会下降，从而使工人能够重返原来的工作岗位。

From pulling pints⁸ to pulling up potatoes

从拉品脱到拔土豆

This is where Europe could learn something from America. Some industries have far too many workers, whereas others do not have enough. Airline employees are needed to work in hospitals, and rural bar staff could helpfully be dragooned into farmwork amid a shortage of migrant labour. But European countries’ schemes for subsidising the wages of furloughed workers often do not make it easy for them to take new jobs, even temporarily, and sometimes discourage it. As Giuseppe Moscarini of Yale University says, support for workers should not preclude⁹ labour mobility¹⁰, even if it encourages them to maintain ties with their existing employers.

这是欧洲可以向美国学习的地方。一些行业有太多的工人，而另一些行业却没有足够的工人。航空公司需要员工在医院工作，而在农民工短缺的情况下，农村酒吧员工可能会被拉到农场工作。但是，欧洲国家为休假工人提供工资补贴的计划，即使是暂时的，往往也难以让他们轻松找到新工作，有时甚至会让他们灰心丧气。正如耶鲁大学的朱塞佩·莫斯卡瑞尼所言，对工人的支持不应对劳动力流动造成阻碍，即使支持鼓励工人与现有的雇主保持联系。

Both American and European labour policies have their pros¹¹ and cons¹². In America rapid shake-outs in jobs markets help good firms grow and bad firms shrink, promoting dynamism. In Europe worker protections can reduce the devastating¹³ toll¹⁴ on employees and their families caused by slumps, but can slow the pace of recovery. American left-wingers believe that more European-style treatment of workers is long overdue—and will cheer examples of companies volunteering to furlough workers rather than fire them. But if America and Europe want to ensure that hospitals are staffed, deliveries are made and food is on the table, they must remember that flexibility¹⁵, as well as some security, is essential.

美国和欧洲的劳工政策各有利弊。在美国，就业市场的快速震荡有助于好公司成长、坏公司萎缩，促进了活力。在欧洲，对工人的保护可以减少经济衰退对雇员及其家庭造成的毁灭性损失，但会减缓经济复苏的步伐。美国的左翼人士认为，更多欧洲式的工人待遇是早就该有的，他们会为那些自愿让工人暂时休假而不是解雇他们的公司喝彩。但是，如果美国和欧洲想要确保医院有足够的人手，确保分娩顺利进行、食物能够上桌，他们必须记住，灵活性以及一定程度的安全性是至关重要的。

1 slumps   

萧条期( slump的名词复数 )； （个人、球队等的）低潮状态； （销售量、价格、价值等的）骤降； 猛跌

参考例句：

• Deflation could emerge from simultaneous slumps in the world's three major economies. 如果世界经济三大主体同时衰退，通货紧缩就会出现。
• This is the cycle of economic booms and slumps. 这是经济繁荣和经济萧条的周期变化。

2 ordeal   

n.苦难经历，（尤指对品格、耐力的）严峻考验

参考例句：

• She managed to keep her sanity throughout the ordeal.在那场磨难中她始终保持神志正常。
• Being lost in the wilderness for a week was an ordeal for me.在荒野里迷路一星期对我来说真是一场磨难。

3 vacancies   

n.空房间( vacancy的名词复数 )；空虚；空白；空缺

参考例句：

• job vacancies 职位空缺
• The sign outside the motel said \"No Vacancies\". 汽车旅馆外的招牌显示“客满”。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 recede   

vi.退(去)，渐渐远去；向后倾斜，缩进

参考例句：

• The colleges would recede in importance.大学的重要性会降低。
• He saw that the dirty water had begun to recede.他发现那污浊的水开始往下退了。

7 ebb   

vi.衰退，减退；n.处于低潮，处于衰退状态

参考例句：

• The flood and ebb tides alternates with each other.涨潮和落潮交替更迭。
• They swam till the tide began to ebb.他们一直游到开始退潮。

8 pints   

n.品脱( pint的名词复数 )；一品脱啤酒

参考例句：

• I drew off three pints of beer from the barrel. 我从酒桶里抽出三品脱啤酒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Two pints today, please. 今天请来两品脱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 preclude   

vt.阻止，排除，防止；妨碍

参考例句：

• We try to preclude any possibility of misunderstanding.我们努力排除任何误解的可能性。
• My present finances preclude the possibility of buying a car.按我目前的财务状况我是不可能买车的。

10 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

11 pros   

abbr.prosecuting 起诉；prosecutor 起诉人；professionals 自由职业者；proscenium （舞台）前部n.赞成的意见( pro的名词复数 )；赞成的理由；抵偿物；交换物

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 cons   

n.欺骗，骗局( con的名词复数 )v.诈骗，哄骗( con的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pros and cons cancel out. 正反两种意见抵消。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We should hear all the pros and cons of the matter before we make a decision. 我们在对这事做出决定之前，应该先听取正反两方面的意见。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

14 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

15 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。