I've been studying work since the 1980s, and I've never seen anything like what's happening today. Pandemic-fueled anxiety is surging around the world. In the US, more than half of all employees report feeling stressed a lot of the day. Job quits are at record levels, running at four million a month. People are burning out.
我从20世纪80年代 开始研究工作机制, 我从未见过像今天这样的情况。 大流行疫情引发的焦虑情绪 正在全球蔓延。 在美国,超过一半的员工表示 每天都感到压力很大。 辞职人数创历史新高, 每月400万人。 人们精疲力竭。
In response, a growing number of companies are offering a four-day, 32-hour week, but with five days of pay. Now, it's not a new idea, but the pandemic has turbocharged it. Employers are realizing that if they can rethink where people work, they can also rethink how many days they're on the job.
作为回应, 越来越多的公司提供每周工作4天、 32小时的工作时间, 但5天带薪。 现在,这不是一个新的想法, 但大流行疫情使其更加强劲。 雇主们意识到, 如果他们可以重新考虑 员工的工作地点, 他们也可以重新考虑 员工的工作天数
Sounds pretty great, but is it realistic? Well, actually, yes. Unlike policies in which one party profits at the expense of another, the four-day week can benefit workers, companies and society, and it can even be a gateway for addressing climate change.
听起来不错,但现实吗? 实际上,是的。 不同于以牺牲另一方利益 为代价的政策, 四天工作制有益于 员工、公司和社会, 它甚至可以成为 应对气候变化的途径。
But first, let's talk about the workplace. For nearly a decade, companies and governments have been experimenting with shorter hours with no cuts in pay. While the results do vary, the research shows that people are less stressed, value their jobs more and have better lives outside of work. In most cases, they are as productive in four days as they are in five. Companies can also see benefits through lower turnover and a higher-quality applicant pool. Less burnout reduces health care costs, mistakes and poor service. With colleagues, I'm studying four-day week trials now in progress in the United States and Ireland, with summer start dates for the UK, New Zealand and Australia. We have thousands of employees participating.
但首先,让我们谈谈工作场所。 近十年来, 公司和政府一直在尝试 在不减薪的情况下缩短工作时间。 尽管结果有所不同, 研究均表明,人们的压力更小, 更重视自己的工作, 在工作之外过更好的生活。 在大多数情况下, 他们四天的工作效率 和五天一样高。 企业也可以从较低的人员流动率 以及更高质量的申请者中获益。 减少职业倦怠可以减少医疗成本、 差错和糟糕的服务。 我和同事们一起, 我们正在研究美国和爱尔兰实行的四天工作制, 并将在夏天开始对英国、新西兰和澳大利亚的研究。 我们有数千名员工参与其中。
Healthwise, an education company, didn't wait for our trial to begin. In June, their employees were quitting in droves. By August, they'd implemented a four-day week. Six months later, CEO Adam Husney reports that people are dramatically happier and have never been more productive. Resignations and sick days are down, revenue has grown and customer satisfaction scores are outstanding. Healthwise employees are spending their Fridays off doing family activities like sports or errands. One mother of young children reported that now she can occasionally manage a guilt-free pedicure. The four-day week can help with self-care and managing the daily stresses of systemic racism, sexism and classism.
一家教育公司健康智慧, 没有等到我们的试验开始。 6月份,他们的员工纷纷辞职。 到了8月,他们实施了 四天工作制。 六个月后, 首席执行官亚当·哈斯尼报告称, 人们的幸福感显著提高, 并且达到了前所未有的水平。 辞职和病假减少了, 收入持续增长 客户满意度得分也很高。 其员工会把周五的假期 花在家庭活动上, 比如运动或其他琐事。 一位有小孩的母亲说, 现在她偶尔可以做一次 没有负罪感的足疗。 四天工作制有助于自我护理 管理日常的系统性种族主义、 性别歧视和阶级歧视的压力。
Now a key part of the model is that in return for the gift of a day off, people are willing to squeeze all their productivity into four days. So while they may be spending less time at work, they're not necessarily doing less work. The secret sauce is work reorganization, cutting out the least productive activities. Meetings are a prime target. Yes, I see everyone nodding. Most companies reduce their frequency and length and the number of attendees. At Healthwise, people save time by messaging colleagues rather than making phone calls, which inevitably includes some social chatting. They shifted personal tasks, like doctor's appointments, to the off-day. And yes, the pace of work at the office does go up. "Let's be honest," one explained, "I'm not goofing off or looking at Facebook, which I was." But people have adapted and they prefer getting their downtime as a whole day off rather than in snippets.
这个模式的一个关键部分是, 作为一日假期礼物的回报, 人们愿意把所有的生产力 都挤在四天里。 所以,虽然他们在工作上 花的时间可能更少, 他们做的工作不一定更少。 秘诀是工作重组, 放弃那些效率最低的活动。 会议是一个主要目标。 是的,我看到大家都在点头。 大多数公司会减少 出席会议的频率、时间和人数。 在健康智慧, 人们通过给同事发信息 而不是打电话来节省时间, 因为电话不可避免地 包括一些社交聊天。 他们会转移个人任务, 比如看医生, 在休息日完成。 是的,办公室的工作节奏 确实提高了。 “老实说,”其中一人解释道, “我不像过去一样,不是在偷懒, 也不是在看脸书。” 但人们已经适应了, 他们更喜欢一整天的休息, 而不是零碎的休息。
Government initiatives have similar findings. In 2015, the city of Reykjavik and then the National Government of Iceland started offering 36 and 35-hour weeks, eventually enrolling more than 2,500 employees. The results have been remarkable. Physical and mental stress went down while work ethic, job satisfaction, work-life balance, energy levels, all improved. Productivity and service quality stayed the same or got better, and the trial was revenue-neutral. Today, roughly 85 percent of all Icelandic employees are either on or eligible for these schedules. The governments of Spain and Scotland have announced four-day week trials in which they'll be subsidizing the fifth day's pay.
政府的倡议也有类似的发现。 2015年,雷克雅未克市 然后是冰岛国民政府 开始提供每周 36到35小时的工作, 最终招募2500多名员工。 结果是显著的。 身体和精神压力都下降了, 而职业道德、工作满意度、 工作与生活的平衡、 精力水平都提高了。 生产率和服务质量 保持不变或有所改善, 而且这个试验的收入是中性的。 如今,大约85%的冰岛员工 都正在享受或有资格 享受这些时间表。 西班牙和苏格兰政府宣布 试行四天工作制, 他们将补贴第5天的工资。
Now one reason for these successes is that with reduced work time, each hour typically becomes more productive. Norway and Denmark, the two European countries with the shortest average hours of work at about 1,380, have outsized productivity. France and Germany are similar. In contrast, the long-hours countries like the UK and Italy have much, much lower productivity. The US historically led the world in productivity and would likely do better now if its work time weren't so high. While tech firms comprise the biggest group adopting four-day reduced hours schedules, companies are also making the switch in banking, PR, marketing and design, nonprofits, consumer goods, even a restaurant chain.
这些成功的一个原因是, 随着工作时间的减少, 每个小时通常会变得更有效率。 挪威和丹麦, 这两个欧洲国家平均工作时间最短, 约为1380小时, 有巨大的生产力。 法国和德国的情况类似。 相比之下, 英国和意大利等工作时间较长的国家, 其生产率要低得多。 美国的生产力历来领先世界, 如果工作时间不那么长, 现在可能会做得更好。 虽然采用缩短工作时间4天工作制的 企业中,科技公司是最大的群体, 随着银行、公关、营销和设计、 非营利组织、消费品, 甚至是连锁餐厅的企业 也在进行这种转变。
But it's also true that doing 100 percent of the work in 80 percent of the time isn't feasible everywhere. Manufacturing was sped up decades ago. Many teachers and flight attendants need to slow down, not intensify. And of course, health care workers on the front lines of the pandemic need to work less, not more.
但同样的事实是, 在80%的时间内完成100%的工作 并不是在任何地方都可行的。 制造业在几十年前就加快了速度。 许多教师和空乘人员需要放慢脚步, 而不是加强力度。 当然,在大流行前线的医护人员 需要减少工作, 而不是增加工作。
(Applause)
(掌声)
Thank you, health care workers.
谢谢你们,医护人员。
Here, another government effort is instructive. In 2014, the city of Gothenburg in Sweden gave nurses at one of its facilities a six-hour day. As expected, the nurses' health and overall well-being improved, as did productivity and patient care. But in this trial, they hired new staff for the hours that weren't being covered. The striking finding was how much lower sick pay and unemployment benefits helped offset those additional salaries.
在这方面,政府的另一项努力 具有启发性。 2014年,瑞典哥德堡市为护士 提供了每天6小时的工作时间。 正如预期的那样,护士的健康 和整体福祉得到了改善, 生产力和病人护理也得到了改善。 但在这个试验中, 他们雇佣了新员工来处理 那些没有被覆盖的时间。 令人震惊的发现是, 较低的病假工资和失业福利 在多大程度上抵消了这些额外工资。
Now the Swedish case raises a bigger, more existential question. How much time should we be dedicating to work? In many countries, jobs are getting more, not less demanding. And scarcity thinking, the idea that even rich countries need to tighten their belts, has taken hold. But really, we should be heading in the opposite direction as digitization and artificial intelligence offer the chance to reduce work time. Amid pandemic fatigue, we should be doubling down on restoring the quality of life and our social fabric, especially in wealthy countries where we already produce enough for everyone to have a good standard of living.
现在,瑞典的案例引发了一个更大、 更关乎生死存亡的问题。 我们应该投入多少时间在工作上? 在许多国家, 工作岗位要求越来越高, 而不是越来越低。 稀缺性思维, 即使是富裕国家 也需要勒紧裤腰带的想法, 已经站稳了脚跟。 但实际上, 随着数字化和人工智能 提供了减少工作时间的机会, 我们应该朝着相反的方向前进。 在大流行期间, 我们应该加倍努力恢复生活质量 和我们的社会结构, 特别是在富裕国家, 我们已经生产了足以让每个人 都过上良好生活的产品。
And this path has the added benefit of addressing the climate crisis. "How so," you may ask. Well, with the four-day week, there's the obvious impact of less commuting. But if we use productivity growth to continue to reduce hours of work just by a couple of percent a year, we can create a longer-term dynamic of decarbonization. Research by me and others has shown this time and again across countries, across states, across households. One reason is that when people are time-stressed, they tend to choose faster and more polluting modes of travel and daily life activities. In contrast, when people get time rather than money, they tend to have a lower carbon footprint. But the bigger reason has to do with the size of the economy. By opting to work less, countries are choosing not to expand production to its max, thereby avoiding additional emissions. Carbon success stories like Germany and Denmark tend to have low annual hours. France and the Netherlands are also low on both carbon and work time. The four-day week is a down payment on a new way to live and work. And yes, we're going to need government help if we're going to move beyond the innovative companies that already see its virtues. But as the three-day weekend spreads, we can realize everyone deserves a right to free time. And that brings the logic of a universal basic income squarely into view. Because without financial support, low-earners can't afford to take that fifth day off.
这条道路还有 解决气候危机的额外好处。 你可能会问:“怎么会呢?” 在四天工作周中, 通勤时间的减少有明显的影响。 但是,如果我们利用生产力的增长, 继续每年减少百分之几的工作时间, 我们就可以创造 一个长期的动态脱碳。 我和其他人的研究一次又一次地 在不同国家、不同州、 不同家庭中证明了这一点。 原因之一是,当人们时间紧张时, 他们倾向于选择更快、污染更严重的 出行方式和日常生活活动。 相比之下, 当人们有时间而不是金钱时, 他们往往会有更低的碳足迹。 但更重要的原因与经济规模有关。 通过选择减少工作, 各国选择不将产量扩大到最大, 从而避免了额外的排放。 像德国和丹麦这样在碳排放方面取得成功的国家, 其年工作时间往往较低。 法国和荷兰的碳排放 和工作时间都很低。 四天工作周是一种新的生活 和工作方式的首付。 是的,如果我们要超越 已经看到其优点创新公司的数量, 我们将需要政府的帮助。 但随着为期三天的周末的蔓延, 我们可以意识到每个人 都应该有自由时间的权利。 这就把全民基本收入的逻辑 直接带入了视野。 因为如果没有经济支持, 低收入者就无法享受第5天的假期。
There's a lot of talk these days about the future of work and the opportunities that it offers. But there's more at stake here than opportunity. We have an imperative. An imperative to face the challenges of our current moment. The pandemic, burnout and depression, inequalities of race and income, the climate crisis. A four-day week addresses each one of these.
现在有很多人在谈论工作的未来 以及它所提供的机会。 但这里有比机会更重要的东西。 我们有一个命当务之急 即我们必须面对当前的挑战。 流行病、倦怠和抑郁, 种族和收入的不平等, 气候危机。 四天工作周解决了 上述每一个问题。
For now, we're starting company by company. But as momentum builds and it becomes universal, we'll have made the transition from scarcity thinking to appreciating the true wealth that we possess. Our ingenuity, our compassion and our humanity.
现在,我们正在一家一家地开始。 但随着动力的建立,它变得普遍, 我们将从稀缺思维 过渡到欣赏我们所拥有的真正财富。 我们的聪明才智, 我们的同情心 和我们的人性。
Thank you.
谢谢你!
(Applause)
(掌声)
Helen Walters: Juliet, thank you so much. I have a very practical question for you. So you mentioned in the talk that people were taking Friday off. Is the recommendation that people all take the same day off, or is this something that people can take, kind of, any day they want off? What's the ideal mechanism to have in place here?
海伦·沃尔特斯:“朱丽叶, 非常感谢你。” 我有一个非常实际的问题要问你。 你在演讲中提到人们周五休假。 是建议所有人都在同一天休假, 还是说这是人们可以在 任何一天休假的建议? 这里理想的机制是什么?”
JS: Every company does it the way that works for them. And that's one of the things in our trial. We do coaching, and we work with the companies before they start to figure out are they a company that can shut down for one day? Do they need to have 24/7, you know, customer service available? So really, it depends, and we're seeing every type.
朱:“每个公司都以 适合自己的方式来做这件事。 这是我们试验的内容之一。 我们提供指导,我们与这些公司合作, 在他们开始弄清楚他们是一家 可以关闭一天的公司之前? 他们需要全天候的客户服务吗? 所以,我们就每一种类型, 视情况而定。”
HW: Juliet, thank you so much.
海:“朱丽叶,非常感谢你。”
(Applause)
(掌声)