Could a four-day working week become the norm?
“做四休三”工作制会成为常态吗？
As economies recover and companies rush to hire more staff, workers seem to be gaining bargaining power. The demands of some are particularly ambitious. One idea, long batted about by trade unions and certain economists, is that people can work for fewer hours without reducing their overall productivity. Is the dream of a shorter working week within reach?
随着各国经济复苏、企业争相扩招，员工似乎拥有了更多“议价筹码”。他们提出的不少要求，可谓是相当地野心勃勃。其中，就有这么一个长期以来被各大工会和部分经济学者反复琢磨的主意，那就是在总体生产力不打折扣的情况下，减少工作时长。那么缩短工作周的梦想是否触手可及？
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It is if you're Icelandic. Last month Alda, an Icelandic pressure group, and Autonomy, a British think-tank, published a report into experiments by the Reykjavik City Council and Iceland's government between 2015 and 2019. According to the report, overall output did not dip in most workplaces, and in some it improved. Workers reported feeling less stressed and healthier too. Men even started doing a bigger share of the household chores. The trials encouraged trade unions to push for shorter working hours, and employers responded swiftly.
如果你是冰岛人，那么答案就是“是”。上个月，冰岛利益集团 Alda 和英国智库 Autonomy 联合发布了一则研究报告，内容有关雷克雅未克市议会和冰岛政府在 2015 年到 2019 年间展开的社会试验。报告表明，在大部分（受试的）工作场所中，工作产出没有下降，有些甚至有所提升。员工们则表示自己压力小了，人也健康了。男性群体甚至由此开始主动承担更多家务活了。这一系列试验推动了工会力争缩短工时的进程，与此同时，用人单位也迅速做出了响应。
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Companies are increasingly open to the idea of an even shorter working week. Microsoft and Shake Shack are among those who have experimented with four-day weeks in parts of their businesses in recent years.
企业对于工作周缩短的想法也日渐接纳。近年来，有不少公司在部分业务中已尝试“做四休三”工作制，微软和 Shake Shack 便位列其中。
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For its trial in 2019, Microsoft Japan cut the number of meetings and encouraged greater online collaboration. Sales per employee increased by 40% compared with the previous year. The potential for annoyed customers should be considered too. One solution may be to allocate different days off to different staff, staggering working days to ensure someone is always available.
微软日本分公司在 2019 年的试验中，尝试减少了线下会议的次数，并鼓励员工展开更多线上合作。该年度，员工的人均销售额同比增长了 40%。同时，公司还要顾及消费者会对员工工时缩短有所不满的可能性。一种解决方案是，给不同的员工分配不同的休假日，错开排班时间，以确保始终有人能够为消费者提供服务。
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These kinds of changes may seem daunting, but the pandemic has demonstrated that new ways of working are possible. For many workers, the idea of a four-day working week will seem less outlandish than it did 18 months ago.***
诸如此类的改变或许让人望而却步，不过疫情期间发生的种种已经向人们证实，新的工作方式不无可能。对于许多“打工人”而言，与 18 个月之前相比，“做四休三”工作制已不再显得如同天方夜谭一般了。
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主编：Bao
品控：木子
审核：Jojo
Photo Credit: Christine Han Photography
重点词汇
norm
/nɔːrm/
n. 常态；正常（平均）水平
相关词汇：normal（adj. 正常的，平常的）
英文释义：the usual or normal situation
bargaining power
讨价还价的能力；谈判能力
相关词汇：bargain（v. 讨价还价）
英文释义：the ability of a person or group to get what they want
bat about
详细讨论；反复推敲
相关词汇：bat（n. 球拍；v. 击球）
同义短语：bat around
英文释义：to think about or talk about sth. for a period of time
within reach
触手可及；力所能及
相关词汇：reach（n. 伸手能够得到的距离）
相关短语：out of reach（够不着）
例句：Keep chemicals out of reach of children.
dip
/dɪp/
v. 减少，降低
反义词：improve
英文释义：become less
同义词：fall
chore
/tʃɔːr/
n. 日常事务；例行工作
英文释义：a routine task
相关短语：household / domestic chores（家务事）
swiftly
/ˈswɪft.li/
adv. 迅速地；即刻
近义词：quickly; immediately; fast; rapidly
补充：swiftly 所表达的速度往往不需费力，也不受阻碍。
搭配短语：to transit swiftly without hesitation or awkwardness
collaboration
/kəˌlæb.əˈreɪ.ʃən/
n. 合作，协作
近义词：cooperation（n. 合作）
相关短语：in collaboration with
相关短语：A wrote a book in collaboration with B.
per
/pɜːr/
prep. 每
相关短语：for each
allocate
/ˈæl.ə.keɪt/
v. 分配；配给
英文释义：to give sth. officially to sb. for a particular purpose
相关短语：to allocate A to B
相关短语：to allocate places to refugees
day off
/deɪ ɑːf/
n. 休息日，休假日
相关词汇：off（adj. 机器停止运转；（人）下班或休息）
英文释义：not at work; away from work
stagger
/ˈstæɡ.ər/
v. 使交错或错开；错开（工作时间、假期等）
英文释义：to arrange for events to start or happen at different times
daunting
/ˈdɑːn.t̬ɪŋ/
adj. 使人气馁的，让人望而却步的
英文释义：making you feel slightly worried about your ability to achieve something
搭配短语：the daunting prospect of asking for a loan
outlandish
/ˌaʊtˈlæn.dɪʃ/
adj. 不切实际的；稀奇古怪的
词源：outlandish 在古英语中表示 foreign land（异国他乡）。
相关词汇：strange; bizarre; unusual
