2020年经济学人 巴托比专栏--回到流水线(2)（在线收听）

The emotion that is most likely to lure workers back to the office is paranoia. The pandemic may have caused managers to realise who is indispensable and who isn’t. Bartleby realises he is entirely dispensable: an amuse bouche between the meaty stuff of structural reform and vaccines. Fail to amuse enough bouches and he will be shuffled into retirement. Millions may reason the same way. When the number of those back at work reaches a critical mass, the rest may be obliged to follow suit.

疑心病这种情绪最有可能吸引员工回到办公室。这场疫情可能让管理者意识到谁是不可或缺的，谁是可有可无的。巴托比的专栏作者意识到自己完全是可有可无的，只是一个介于结构性改革和疫苗之间的开胃小菜罢了。如果不能取悦老板们，他将被迫辞职。数以百万计的人可能也是这样。当那些重返工作岗位的人数达到工作所需的最低人数时，剩余的人可能也不得不效仿。

The trade-off for employers is rather different. Most companies will be thinking about whether they need all that expensive office space. If they do want to lure back their employees, they may have to spend a lot on contactless, socially distant office design to keep their workers safe, such as doors that open automatically.

雇主需要面对的权衡截然不同。大多数公司都会考虑是否需要租赁那么贵的办公空间。如果他们真的想吸引员工回来，他们可能不得不花很多钱在无接触和能够保持社交距离的办公室设计上，以保证员工的安全，比如自动门。

Some firms may be worried about security. On July 27th a British standard-setting board issued guidance for financial firms about the security risks of fixed-income and currency traders working at home. Other companies may worry about the long-term impact of home working on productivity. One missing element may be the casual interaction that occurs between employees outside formal meetings—those chats by the fridge may spark ideas or suggest new ways of co-operating. Indeed, employees may find it more difficult to build relationships throughout the company without meeting colleagues in person.

一些公司可能担心安全问题。7月27日，英国标准制定委员会就经融公司的固定收益和外汇交易员在家办公的安全风险发布了指导意见。其他公司可能担心在家工作对生产力的长期影响。其中缺少的一个因素可能是除了正式会议以外，员工之间无法随意互动，员工们在茶水间聊天可能会激发新想法或提出新的合作方式。事实上，员工可能会发现，如果无法与同事面对面接触，在公司里要建立同事关系会更加困难。

This will be particularly difficult for new employees. It is not always easy even for those who have been doing their job for a while to perform the same tasks at home. And newcomers must adjust to a firm’s culture, which usually happens by picking up subtle cues from the people around them. Companies may bombard them with training modules and video chats—“onboarding”, in the jargon of human-resources departments. But that may be no more useful than reading a manual as your only preparation for trying to ride the winning horse in the Kentucky Derby.

这对新员工来说尤其困难。即使对那些已经工作了一段时间的人来说，在家办公并完成同样的任务也并非易事。新员工必须适应公司的文化，这通常是从周围人微妙的暗示中获得的。公司可能会利用培训模块和视频聊天来轰炸新员工，用人力资源部门的行话来说就是“入职培训”。但是这种做法就如同仅做了阅读手册这一准备，就试图驾驭肯塔基州德比的冠军马一样，对新员工来说没有多大用处。

Given the state of the global economy it will take time before most companies hire a lot more employees or lower employee interaction weighs on corporate performance. With many employees happy to work from home, that may mean no great rush to repopulate the office. You may not have to resume your morning routine until 2021.

考虑到全球经济的现状，大多数公司需要一段时间才能雇佣更多的员工或降低员工互动对公司绩效的影响。由于许多员工乐于在家工作，这可能意味着不必急于重新安排办公室人员。2021年之前，你可能不需要恢复早上通勤的习惯了。