2023年经济学人 疾病使英国人无法重返工作岗位(2)

 

 

    Working from home also erased¹ some of the non-financial rewards from employment, such as rubbing shoulders with colleagues.

    居家办公也抹去了就业带来的一些非经济回报，比如与同事打交道。

    Extended periods at home gave others a trial run at what retirement² could be like.

    长时间呆在家里，让他们体验了可能的退休生活。

    Rather than being forced to retire, older workers may have chosen to: the proportion of inactive people between 16 and 64 who claim they would like a job fell to a record low of just over 19% in 2022.

    年龄较大的员工可能会选择退休，而不是被迫退休：2022年，16岁至64岁的非活跃工人中，声称想要工作的人比例降至略高于19%，是有史以来的最低水平。

    But looking for the "missing workers" only among those who have recently left work may be a mistake, says Tony Wilson at the Institute of Employment Studies, another think-tank.

    但另一家智库，“劳工研究中心”的托尼·威尔逊表示，只在最近离职的人中寻找“消失的工人”可能不是正确的做法。

    Britain’s problem is not that too many people are quitting, but that not enough are coming back.

    英国劳动力市场的问题不是退出的人太多，而是回来的人不够多。

    If the health-care system was in better nick some conditions may have not become chronic³.

    如果医疗保健系统处于更好的状态，一些人的疾病可能就不会变成慢性疾病。

    Lockdowns and pandemic-era interruptions may have exacerbated⁴ mental-health problems, making it harder to return to work.

    隔离和疫情时期的停摆可能导致人们的心理健康问题加剧，让重返工作岗位变得更加困难。

    The aggregate⁵ numbers, too, may hide quite how many younger workers have dropped out of the labour market due to ill health.

    总体数字也可能掩盖了因健康状况不佳而退出劳动力市场的年轻工人的数量。

    There has been much less change in the headline numbers of those aged⁶ 24 to 50 who are inactive, but there has been lots of churn under the surface.

    24岁到50岁之间的非活跃人群的总体数字变化要小得多，但表象之下暗流涌动。

    The number of people saying they cannot work because they are looking after family has fallen by 114,000: working from home has made it easier to combine caring for others with a job.

    表示因照顾家人而无法工作的人数减少了11.4万人：居家办公让他们能更好地兼顾照顾家人和工作。

    Without rising levels of ill health in this cohort, its total contribution to the labour force might have grown.

    如果这群人的健康状况没有恶化，他们对劳动力市场的总贡献可能会增加。

    Tempting⁷ more "inactive workers" back to the frontline could alleviate⁸ some of Britain’s economic problems.

    吸引更多“非活跃工人”回到工作一线或许能够缓解英国的一些经济问题。

    Rate-setters at the Bank of England are concerned that a tight labour market is fuelling inflationary pressure.

    英国央行的利率制定者担心，劳动力市场的紧张正导致通胀压力上升。

    Firms are having to fish for new employees in the much smaller pool of the unemployed⁹; rapid wage growth is boosting services inflation.

    从失业人群寻找员工的各家公司发现失业人群规模缩减了很多；工资的快速增长正在推高服务业领域的通胀。

    Although few inactive workers say they are looking for a job right now, more would like to in the future.

    虽然表示自己正在找工作的非活跃工人很少，但未来会有更多人希望找工作。

    That will be a challenge.

    这将是一个挑战。

    Less than a tenth of retirees ever return.

    只有不到十分之一的退休人员返回工作岗位。

    Mr. Wilson says that supplying some form of employment support to help the long-term sick into work might help; at present Britain provides very little.

    威尔逊先生表示，提供某种形式的就业支持，帮助长期患病的人寻找工作可能有利于非活跃工人返回工作岗位；而目前，英国提供的就业帮助很少。

    But rather than luring¹⁰ missing workers back, the economy may finally need to come up with some productivity improvements instead.

    但是，相比吸引消失的工人回来，英国可能还是更需要拿出一些方案，提高企业的生产率。

1 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

3 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

4 exacerbated   

v.使恶化，使加重( exacerbate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The symptoms may be exacerbated by certain drugs. 这些症状可能会因为某些药物而加重。
• The drugs they gave her only exacerbated the pain. 他们给她吃的药只是加重了她的痛楚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 aggregate   

adj.总计的，集合的；n.总数；v.合计；集合

参考例句：

• The football team had a low goal aggregate last season.这支足球队上个赛季的进球总数很少。
• The money collected will aggregate a thousand dollars.进帐总额将达一千美元。

6 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

7 tempting   

a.诱人的, 吸引人的

参考例句：

• It is tempting to idealize the past. 人都爱把过去的日子说得那么美好。
• It was a tempting offer. 这是个诱人的提议。

8 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

9 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

10 luring   

吸引，引诱（lure的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• Cheese is very good for luring a mouse into a trap. 奶酪是引诱老鼠上钩的极好的东西。
• Her training warned her of peril and of the wrong, subtle, mysterious, luring. 她的教养警告她：有危险，要出错儿，这是微妙、神秘而又诱人的。