2018年经济学人 Bartleby专栏:公司必须克服技能短缺(1)（在线收听）

American companies spent $91bn on staff training last year, almost a third as much again as they did in 2016.

去年美国公司员工培训支出为910亿美元，比2016年多了近三分之二。

That equated to more than $1,000 for every staff member being taught, according to a survey by Training magazine.

《培训》杂志调查表明，那相当于培训一位员工的支出为一千多美元。

This shift is highly encouraging. In broad terms, provision of on-the-job training has been shrinking—

这样的变化非常鼓舞人心。从广义上来讲，在职培训规定一直在缩水，

in both America and Britain it has fallen by roughly half in the past two decades. Companies are often loth to provide it.

在美国和英国，过去20年里，培训规定粗略估计缩减了一半。公司通常不愿意提供在职培训。

A 2009 study from the OECD, a club of mostly rich countries, worried that

经合组织2009年的研究表明，富裕国家会社担心

"industry, left to its own devices, may not have incentives to provide sufficient training."

“行业，如果顺其发展的话，或许会缺乏提供充足培训的动因。”

That is because workers may take advantage of their education to transfer their skills to a rival.

这是因为员工们可能会利用自己的教育背景带着他们的技能投靠对手。

Training is even more important in a world of rapid technological change,

在一个科技日新月异的世界中，培训甚至会更加重要，

where low-skilled tasks are increasingly being automated and artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming many services jobs.

在这样的世界中，低技能工作正在被自动化取代，人工智能（AI）正在改变许多服务型工作。

To have a chance of a long, high-paying career, workers need retraining.

为了有获得长期发展的高薪职业的机会，员工们需要培训。

At IBM, a computer firm, Diane Gherson, head of human resources, says that employee skills stay relevant for only three years.

在IBM电脑公司，人力资源主管黛安·盖尔松表示员工技能相关性只能保持三年。

So training is "the lifeblood of any tech company".

因此，培训是“任何一家科技公司的生命线”。

IBM created an "AI academy" in which employees take courses from a curriculum, provided by Coursera,

IBM建立了“AI学院”，员工们可以在Coursera平台上上课学习。

an online-learning platform founded by Andrew Ng, an AI pioneer, and Daphne Koller, a computer scientist, both of Stanford University.

Coursera是一个在线学习平台，由AI开创者Andrew Ng以及电脑科学家Daphne Koller创办，两人均来自斯坦福大学。

Roll up for such clickbait as: "Artificial intelligence process re-engineering case study",

课程比如：《人工智能程序再设计案例研究》

and "Improving deep neural networks: Hyperparameter tuning, Regularisation and Optimisation".

以及《改善深度神经网络：超参数调优、正则化以及最优化》。

The courses are usually taught online and the staff often study in their own time.

这些课程通常是在线教授，员工们可以利用自己的时间学习。

Those who complete a course can qualify for a digital "badge" which bolsters their career profile on platforms such as LinkedIn.

那些完成一项课程的人有资格获得一枚数字“勋章”，以提升他们在一些平台，如领英，上的职业形象。

In 2016-18 more than 200,000 IBM staffers earned 650,000 badges and the average employee undertook 60 hours of training a year.

在2016年至18年，二十多万IBM员工共获得65万枚勋章，普通员工一年的培训时间为60小时。

IBM also has a programme that aims to retain workers who might be lured elsewhere.

IBM还有一个项目，该项目目的在于留住那些被挖墙脚的员工。

In the past five years, IBM reckons, the proportion of its employees who have advanced digital skills has risen from 30% to 80%.

据IBM估计，在过去五年中，拥有高级数字技能的员工比例从30%增至80%。

(Digital skills include knowledge of AI, analytics, cloud computing, the Internet of Things and cyber-security.)

（数字技能包括AI、统计学、云计算、物联网以及网络安全的知识。）