商业周刊:最后雇佣却先遭解雇(17)（在线收听）

Trump's executive order may keep plants open, but it can't force sick and scared workers back to the line.

特朗普发布的行政命令可能会让工厂继续营业，但不能强迫生病和受惊的工人返回生产线。

The shortfall in output could continue to run as high as 15% even after plants reopen, Perdue, the agriculture secretary, said on April 30.

农业部长珀杜4月30日表示，即使工厂重新开放，产出缺口仍可能高达15%。

Slaughterhouses, after years of lobbying to run their lines faster

屠宰场多年来一直在游说加快生产线，

—resisted by labor advocates as too dangerous and by some food safety experts as likely to allow more unhealthy animals to be processed

但遭到抵制。劳工倡导者说这样做过于危险，而一些食品安全专家认为，屠宰厂这样做可能加工更多不健康的动物，

—may be forced to slow down for months and possibly years to adjust to fewer workers with more space between them.

这也许会迫使屠宰场减速数月甚至数年，以适应工人数量减少、工作空间更大的局面。

Livestock farmers may have to keep culling their herds, prolonging higher meat prices.

牲畜养殖户可能不得不继续宰杀牲畜，延长肉价上涨的时间。

For now, hewing to enhanced safety standards makes sense for meat companies to keep plants open.

目前，对肉品公司来说，遵守更高的安全标准是有道理的。

But if you're a worker, you have to wonder if the precautions will outlast the pandemic,

但是，如果你是一名工人，势必想知道，当你的健康不再对更广泛的社区构成威胁时，

when your health is no longer a threat to the broader community. Then what?

预防措施是否能持续到疫情大流行之后。情况会怎样呢？

Maybe robots. Industry experts say meat companies are likely to emerge from this crisis determined to solve their labor problem once and for all with automation.

也许使用机器人。业内专家表示，肉品企业很可能从这场危机中脱颖而出，决心采用自动化彻底解决他们的劳动力问题。

"The old adage was that the machine doesn't take a coffee break," says economist Steve Meyer of Kerns & Associates in Ames, Iowa.

爱荷华州艾姆斯市咨询公司Kerns & Associates的经济学家史蒂夫·迈耶说：“有句老话说，机器不需要茶歇。

"I guess the new adage is that the machine doesn't get coronavirus."

我想新的格言会是，机器不会感染新冠病毒。”