2018年经济学人 自由交流:福特老板的“驭人之道”(2)（在线收听）

Heaps of data about their activities within a work-space are gathered, while their cognitive contribution is reduced.

设备可以收集众多员工在工作场所的活动数据，但员工的认知贡献也会减少。

In both ways, such technologies pave the way for automation, much as the introduction of regimentation and discipline in factories facilitated the replacement of humans by machines.

这类技术为自动化铺平了道路，正如在工厂中引入严格管理和纪律制度促进了人工被机器取代的进程。

The potential for automation increases the power of firms over workers.

自动化的潜能会使得企业权力高于员工。

Anyone thinking of demanding higher pay, or of joining a union in the hope of organising to grab a share of the returns to increased efficiency, can be cowed with the threat of robots.

那些想要加薪，或加入工会以试图分得企业利润一杯羹的员工，会因为机器人的威胁而打退堂鼓。

Who watches the watch, man

谁还看钟点

White-collar workers are not spared oppressive bosses.

白领也无法逃脱老板的压迫。

Indeed, as the New York Times reported in 2015, Amazon has experimented with data-driven management techniques known to drive some white-collar workers to tears.

事实上，2015年《纽约时报》的一篇报道称，亚马逊推行基于数据的管理方法，据说这让很多白领苦不堪言，痛哭流泪。

(Others, though, told the Times that they thrived at Amazon, “because it pushed them past what they thought were their limits”.)

（但其他人告诉《纽约时报》说，他们能从容应对，“因为亚马逊推动他们打破了自己的极限”。）

The high pay of workers with exacting jobs in finance or technology can reasonably be seen as compensation for their burdensome working conditions.

金融业或科技界的员工工作艰难苛刻，收入也高，这可以看成是他们繁重工作的合理补偿。

And unhappy professionals can usually find less oppressive work that pays a lower but still decent wage.

工作不开心的职员常常可以找一份不那么压抑的工作，虽然工资相对较少却还过得去。

As Amazon and other firms embrace new tools to monitor and direct their workers,

随着亚马逊等企业使用新工具来监督和指导员工，

the difference between progress and dystopia comes down to whether workers feel comfortable demanding raises,

员工是感觉自己在进步还是身处地狱，这就取决于他们能否轻松地要求加薪，

and whether they can quit without fear of serious hardship.

能否随性地辞职且不用担心辞职后的困境。

Indeed, firms could ponder such matters them-selves before the inevitable backlash.

事实上，在引起不可避免的强烈反应之前，企业可以对这些问题深入思考一番。