2023年经济学人 轮流工位的麻烦

Business

商业版块

Bartleby

巴托比专栏

Hot mess

轮流工位的麻烦

Why unassigned desks and cost savings¹ do not go together.

为什么轮流工位和节省成本无法兼得。

The highest private terrace in Manhattan belongs to an algorithmic-trading company called Hudson River Trading.

曼哈顿最高的私人露台属于一家名为哈德逊河交易的算法交易公司。

Its offices, spread across several floors near the top of Three World Trade Centre, are more theme park than workplace: a games room, gym, dining areas, stupefying views, happy hours and drawers unexpectedly stuffed full of sweets to give employees a surprise.

该公司的办公室分布在世贸中心3号楼顶部的几层楼上，这里虽说是工作场所，但其实更像主题公园：有游戏室、健身房、用餐区，从窗户可以看到令人叹为观止的风景，可以度过欢乐的时光，拉开抽屉，里面出人意料地塞满了糖果，就是为了给员工一个惊喜。

You come away wishing you had concentrated more in maths at school.

当你从这里离开时，心里会想，当初真应该在学校好好学数学。

You also come away wondering about one of the silver linings² of the post-pandemic office for bosses who dislike the idea of home-working.

当你从这里离开时，你还会想着一件事，这件事对于那些不喜欢居家办公模式的老板来说，算是后疫情时代办公室的一个好处。

If fewer people are coming in on any one day, at least they don’t need as much space: they can find unassigned desks and the firm can save some money.

如果每天来办公室的人越来越少，那么他们就不需要那么大的空间：他们不必有固定的工位，公司就可以节省一笔钱。

The trouble is that hot-desking flies in the face of two things, one deeply embedded³ in the human psyche⁴ and the other a direct consequence of the pandemic.

问题在于轮流办公桌与两件事相悖，其中一件深深植根于人类心理，另一件则是大流行的直接后果。

The first is territoriality⁵.

首先是领地本性。

This is a word with negative connotations.

这是一个带有负面含义的词。

It conjures⁶ up someone who sees information as something to be hoarded⁷ and feedback as an intrusion—the kind of person who buys a padlock for the items they store in the communal⁸ fridge.

这个词会让人联想到一些人，他们将信息视为应该囤积起来的东西，并将反馈视为一种侵犯，这种人会把自己放在公共冰箱中的物品锁起来。

But territoriality is also natural.

但领地本性也是人之天性。

Just as it is hard not to bridle⁹ a little at the unsolicited observations of co-workers, so people like having a space to call their own.

就像人们很难对不经询问就乱给意见的同事不感到恼火一样，人们也喜欢拥有属于自己的空间。

Personalised territory seems to be correlated with a sense of belonging.

个性化的领地似乎与归属感相关。

A study in the 1970s looked at the longevity¹⁰ of first-year college students who shared rooms.

20世纪70年代的一项研究观察了合住房间的一年级大学生的在校时长。

People who lasted the academic year had covered twice as much space above their beds with personal decorations than the dropouts had.

读完一学年的人在床上空间摆放个人装饰品的面积是辍学生的两倍。

In the office, too, workers claim territory with everything from photographs and files to crumbs¹¹ and crumpled¹² tissues.

在办公室也一样，人们用照片、文件夹、食物碎屑、卫生纸团等各种东西标明自己的领地范围。

A pre-pandemic study of behaviour among hot-deskers, conducted by Alison Hirst of Anglia Ruskin University in Britain, divided people into “settlers” and “vagrants¹³”.

英国安格利亚·鲁斯金大学的艾莉森·赫斯特在疫情前对轮换工位的人的行为进行了一项研究，她将这些人分为“定居者”和“流浪者”。

Settlers, who often arrived earlier or were more senior, tried to claim the same desk each day, in order to have a space and a set of neighbours they knew and liked.

定居者往往来得更早或更年长，他们每天都试图抢占同一张桌子，以便拥有空间和他们熟知且喜欢的邻居。

Vagrants, who tended to be later arrivals, had to waste time searching for a desk.

流浪者往往较晚到达，他们不得不花费时间寻找办公桌。

Sitting in a spot normally taken by someone else was fraught¹⁴ with social discomfort¹⁵.

坐在一个别人经常坐的位置上，也让人充满了社交不适。

Firms can avoid some of this time-wasting by having people book desks—“hotelling”, in the dreadful phrase.

公司可以通过预订办公桌来避免这种浪费时间的情况，这种做法有一个很难听的名字，叫“酒店预订”。

And they can avoid stratification by requiring people to clear their spaces each night.

他们可以要求同事每晚清理自己用过的空间，避免工位上堆放了层层叠叠的东西。

Under this model, people do have their own territory but instead of a desk, it is a locker¹⁶.

在这种模式下，人们确实有自己的领地，但这领地不是一张办公桌，而是一个储物柜。

Think “High School Musical”, but without the music or the highs.

这就像没有了音乐，也没有了高潮的《歌舞青春》电影。

If territoriality is the deep-seated problem with hot-desking, then the more recent one stems from the pandemic.

如果领地本性是轮流工位的一个根深蒂固的问题，那么最近出现的问题则源于大流行。

Employers need to think harder about why people should do the commute¹⁷ at all.

雇主需要更认真地思考，人们为什么非要通勤。

There is no single answer.

这个问题没有单一的答案。

The office is the place to do the sort of collaborative work with colleagues that requires physical proximity¹⁸.

办公室是人们与同事进行协同工作的地方，协同工作需要物理上的近距离。

It is a way to spread company culture as well as covid.

这不仅会传播新冠病毒，也会传播企业文化。

Less intuitively, a survey of American workers in 2022 by Gensler, a firm of architects, found that the most common reason to come in was to focus on work.

但与人们的直觉不太相符的是，根斯勒建筑事务所在2022年对美国工作者进行的一项调查发现，来办公室最常见的原因是人们想专心工作。

But the common theme is that the office is no longer the default; it has to be appealing.

但人们的共识是，办公室不再是默认的办公环境，（要想让人们来办公室）办公室必须变得吸引人。

That sits uncomfortably with a cut-price version of hot-desking, in which office footprints shrink and people grab a spot wherever they can.

这与廉价版的轮流工位格格不入，在这种版本中，办公室空间缩小，有什么地方就抢占什么地方。

Cohesion¹⁹ suffers if teammates are dispersed²⁰ randomly²¹ through a building; collaboration²² is harder if there aren’t enough meeting rooms to accommodate demand.

如果团队成员随机分布在大楼的各个地方，团队凝聚力就会受到影响，如果没有足够的会议室来满足需求，合作就会变得困难。

The company culture may be absorbed, but only in the sense that everyone feels hard done by.

人们可能会感受到一些企业文化，但感受就是大家都受了委屈。

And focused work is easier if you aren’t suddenly plonked next to someone who sounds like Beaker from “The Muppets”.

而且如果没有某个说话声音像《布偶大电影》里的烧杯的人突然一屁股坐在你身边，那么专心工作会变得容易很多。

For penny-pinchers, the unpalatable conclusion is that hot-desking works best when people have lots of space.

让吝啬鬼很不开心的一个结论是，当人们有足够大的空间时，轮流工位的效果才最好。

In Cisco’s newly refitted offices in Manhattan, for instance, no one has an assigned desk (bosses included) but there are oodles of options and people are encouraged to move about repeatedly during the day.

例如，在思科公司新装修的曼哈顿办公室里，所有人(包括老板)的工位都不固定，但员工有很多位置可选，而且公司鼓励员工在一天内多次换位置。

The office is everyone’s territory.

整个办公室就是所有人的领地。

Back at Hudson River Trading in New York, employees all have their own desks, but also licence to move around as they wish.

回到纽约哈德逊河交易公司，员工们都有自己的办公桌，也可以随心所欲地换地方。

Space feels abundant: there are roughly as many meeting-room spots on its latest, post-pandemic floor as there are assigned seats.

办公室里空间非常充裕：在疫情后的最新办公室里，会议室的数量大致与固定工位一样多。

You can use hot-desking to save money or you can use it to create flexibility²³ and a sense of belonging.

你可以用轮流工位来省钱，也可以用它来创造灵活性和归属感。

It is hard to do both.

但二者很难兼得。

1 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

2 linings   

n.衬里( lining的名词复数 )；里子；衬料；组织

参考例句：

• a pair of leather gloves with fur linings 一双毛皮衬里的皮手套
• Many of the garments have the customers' name tags sewn into the linings. 这些衣服有很多内衬上缝有顾客的姓名签。 来自辞典例句

3 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

4 psyche   

n.精神；灵魂

参考例句：

• His exploration of the myth brings insight into the American psyche.他对这个神话的探讨揭示了美国人的心理。
• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche.她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。

5 territoriality   

n.领土，领土的性质或状态

参考例句：

• IPR generally have the features of intangibility, exclusivity, territoriality and temporality. 知识产权一般具有无形性、专用性、地域性、时间性特征。 来自互联网
• Figure 5 Dominance, superiority and territoriality are evident here. 图5大权在握、目空一切、不容侵犯的神态显而易见。 来自互联网

6 conjures   

用魔术变出( conjure的第三人称单数 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• The word 'birthday' conjures up images of presents and parties. “生日”这个词使人想起礼物和聚会的情景。
• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。

7 hoarded   

v.积蓄并储藏（某物）( hoard的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• It owned great properties and often hoarded huge treasures. 它拥有庞大的财产，同时往往窖藏巨额的财宝。 来自辞典例句
• Sylvia among them, good-naturedly applaud so much long-hoarded treasure of useless knowing. 西尔维亚也在他们中间，为那些长期珍藏的无用知识，友好地、起劲地鼓掌。 来自互联网

8 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

9 bridle   

n.笼头，束缚；vt.抑制，约束；动怒

参考例句：

• He learned to bridle his temper.他学会了控制脾气。
• I told my wife to put a bridle on her tongue.我告诉妻子说话要谨慎。

10 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

11 crumbs   

int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式

参考例句：

• She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
• Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊，天哪！都这会儿啦？

12 crumpled   

adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She crumpled the letter up into a ball and threw it on the fire. 她把那封信揉成一团扔进了火里。
• She flattened out the crumpled letter on the desk. 她在写字台上把皱巴巴的信展平。

13 vagrants   

流浪者( vagrant的名词复数 )； 无业游民； 乞丐； 无赖

参考例句：

• Police kept a close watch on the vagrants. 警察严密监视那些流浪者。
• O Troupe of little vagrants of the world, leave your footprints in my words. 世界上的一队小小的漂泊者呀，请留下你们的足印在我的文字里。

14 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

15 discomfort   

n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便

参考例句：

• One has to bear a little discomfort while travelling.旅行中总要忍受一点不便。
• She turned red with discomfort when the teacher spoke.老师讲话时她不好意思地红着脸。

16 locker   

n.更衣箱，储物柜，冷藏室，上锁的人

参考例句：

• At the swimming pool I put my clothes in a locker.在游泳池我把衣服锁在小柜里。
• He moved into the locker room and began to slip out of his scrub suit.他走进更衣室把手术服脱下来。

17 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

18 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

19 cohesion   

n.团结，凝结力

参考例句：

• I had to bring some cohesion into the company.我得使整个公司恢复凝聚力。
• The power of culture is deeply rooted in the vitality,creativity and cohesion of a nation. 文化的力量，深深熔铸在民族的生命力、创造力和凝聚力之中。

20 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

21 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

22 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

23 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。