冠状病毒疫情下如何应对大规模失业
Coronavirus: Dealing with mass unemployment
Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil.
大家好。这里是BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》节目。我是尼尔。
And I'm Sam.
我是萨姆。
You and I are lucky, Sam, because we can do our jobs remotely, working from home.
你和我还是幸运的，萨姆，因为我们可以远程办公，在家里工作。
There are some downsides, though - like not being able to meet up with friends or share ideas with colleagues.
不过也有一些缺点，比如不能和朋友见面或者和同事分享想法。
And going out for lunch!
没法出去吃午餐！
But the coronavirus pandemic has caused millions of people to lose their job,
但冠状病毒大流行已经导致数百万人失去工作，
and forced thousand more out of work temporarily with no idea if their job will still be there when they return.
并迫使数千人暂时失业，他们不知道当他们返回时，自己的工作是否还在。
For those daily workers without savings to pay the rent and feed their families it has been especially stressful.
对于那些没有积蓄来支付房租以及养家糊口的日工来说，压力尤其大。
Each job loss is a potential personal tragedy.
每一个失业都有可能造成个人悲剧。
In this programme we'll be assessing the post-Covid job landscape,
在本期节目中，我们将评估新冠肺炎疫情后的就业前景，
and asking whether a radical new approach is needed to prevent global mass unemployment.
并询问是否需要一种彻底的新方法来预防全球大规模失业。
We'll be asking whether one of the world's smallest – and richest – countries, Denmark, might hold the answer.
我们将会问一问，作为世界上最小也是最富有的国家之一，丹麦是否可能给出答案。
And of course, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well.
当然，我们也会学习一些新词汇。
But first it's time for our quiz question.
但首先是我们的测试问题。
One man who knows a lot about jobs is Brad Smith, president of Microsoft,
一个对工作了解很多的人就是布拉德·史密斯，他是微软公司的总裁，
a company employing over 150 thousand workers.
这家公司有超过15万名员工。
He's made gloomy predictions about the number of people out of work,
他对失业人数做出了悲观预测，
but how many people does he predict will be left unemployed this year as a result of the coronavirus pandemic?
但是他预测今年会有多少人因为冠状病毒大流行而失业呢？
Is it: a) one quarter of a billion people, b) one third of a billion people, or c) half a billion people?
是：a) 十亿人口的四分之一，b)十亿人口的三分之一，还是c) 十亿人口的二分之一？
Wow, those numbers do really look gloomy!
哇，这些数字确实看起来令人沮丧！
I'll say b) one third of a billion people unemployed around the world.
我认为是b)全世界有三分之一的人失业。
OK, Sam, we'll come back to that later.
好的，萨姆，我们稍后将会回到这个话题。
Now, mass unemployment – millions of people losing their jobs due to the Covid pandemic
现在，大规模失业——数百万人由于新冠肺炎大流行失去工作
– has left the world facing an enormous jobs challenge.
——使世界面临巨大的就业挑战。
Elisabeth Reynolds, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is author of the report 'Work of the Future'.
麻省理工学院的伊丽莎白·雷诺兹是《未来工作》报告的作者。
Here she is talking to BBC World Service programme, Business Daily, about the current situation:
以下是她与BBC全球服务节目Business Daily谈论当前形势时所提到的：
Well I think in the short term it does feel like we are not yet in a place where we can talk about recovery and rebuilding completely.
好吧，我认为，从短期来看，我们确实还不能达到完全谈论恢复和重建的地步。
We're still gonna see the ramifications, the impact and the ripple effect of all this for months to come.
在未来几个月，我们仍将看到这一切的后果、影响和连锁反应。
We use the expressions, 'in the long term' and 'in the short term' to talk about what will happen over a long or short period of time.
我们用“从长远来看”和“从短期来看”来表达在或长或短的一段时间内将要发生什么。
In the short term - over a short period of time, Elisabeth thinks it's too early to talk about a jobs recovery.
从短期来看——在短期内，伊丽莎白认为现在谈论就业恢复还为时过早。
She also warns that we haven't yet experienced the full impact or ramifications of the pandemic.
她还警告说，我们尚未经历这次大流行的全部影响或后果。
Like throwing a stone into water, these consequences create a ripple effect
就像往水里扔石头一样，这些后果会产生连锁反应
– a situation where one event causes a series of effects which spread and produce further effects.
——在这种情境下，一个事件会引起一系列影响，而这些影响会蔓延并产生进一步的影响。
According to Elisabeth, the problem is that many of the government measures put in place to support jobs are not sustainable in the long term.
伊丽莎白认为，问题在于，许多为了支持就业的政府措施从长远来看是不可持续的。
She says more radical change is needed.
她说需要更彻底的改变。
Of course the big question is – how?
当然，最大的问题是——怎么做？
One proposed solution is the Danish model.
一种建议解决方案是丹麦模式。
This balances citizens' rights and duties.
这平衡了公民的权利和义务。
Denmark provides one of the world's most generous unemployment payouts,
丹麦提供了世界上最慷慨的失业金之一，
but in return citizens are expected to commit to any job or training the government thinks would be beneficial.
但作为回报，丹麦公民要承诺从事政府认为有益的任何工作或培训。
Jacob Kirkegaard, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute in Washington, is himself a Dane.
雅各布·柯克加德是华盛顿彼得森研究所的高级研究员，他本人就是丹麦人。
Here he explains to BBC Business Daily how the model works:
在这里，他向BBC《商业日报》解释了这种模式是如何运作的：
It's very easy to hire and fire people in Denmark.
在丹麦，雇人和解雇人很容易。
It doesn't cost you anything and you don't have sort of a guaranteed job for life once you get a permanent contract,
它不会让你有任何损失，而且一旦你签订终身合同，你也无法获得一份有保障的终生职业，
which is the situation in many other continental European countries…
在许多其它欧洲大陆国家都是这种情况……
So it combines labour market flexibility with employment security…
所以它将劳动力市场的灵活性与就业保障相结合……
namely the idea that people, if they lose their job, they know that they can find another job even if that requires them to pick up new skills,
也就是说，如果人们失去了自己的工作，他们知道自己也能找到另一份工作，即使需要他们去学习新技能，
because that upskilling - or reskilling if you like - is going to be made available to them,
因为他们会得到技能的提升——如果你愿意，也可以称之为再培训，
partly through very lavish government subsides.
部分是通过非常慷慨的政府补贴。
Denmark enjoys labour flexibility because it's easy for bosses to hire and fire – employ someone and release them from employment,
丹麦的劳动力很灵活，因为老板雇人和解雇人都很容易，也就是雇佣员工和解雇员工，
meaning there's no such thing as a job for life – one that you can stay in all your working life.
这意味着人们没有一份终生职业——一份你整个工作生涯都能从事的工作。
But citizens also have the security of lavish – generous and expensive – benefits,
但公民也有慷慨的——丰厚而昂贵的——福利，
and the government will also pay for worker upskilling - training to learn new skills making them better at their jobs...
而且政府还将支付工人的技能提升费用，那是指培训他们学习新技能，更好地胜任工作……
…and thereby preventing unemployment – which reminds me of your quiz question, Neil.
从而预防失业，这让我想起了你的测验问题，尼尔。
Yes, I asked you how many people were predicted to lose their jobs to the Covid pandemic.
是的，我问你有多少人因为新冠肺炎大流行而失业。
And I said b) one third of a billion.
我说是b)十亿人口的三分之一。
Well, fortunately it's the slightly lower, but still worrying, figure of, one quarter of a billion people.
好吧，幸运的是，答案要略低一些，但仍令人担忧，十亿人口的四分之一。
We've been discussing predictions of mass unemployment in the short term – or over a short time period, caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
我们一直在讨论短期内或短时间内，对冠状病毒大流行所造成的大规模失业的预测。
It also seems we will be experiencing the ripple effects – series of consequences, of the virus for a long time to come.
我们似乎还将在很长一段时间内经历这种病毒的连锁反应——一系列后果。
One solution to mass unemployment may be the Danish model,
解决大规模失业的一种方法可能是丹麦模式，
were the power to hire or fire – employ someone or make them unemployed
即雇佣或解雇人的权力——雇佣某人或解雇某人
– means there are not many jobs for life – jobs you can do all your working life.
——那就意味着人们没有一份终生职业——一份你整个工作生涯都能从事的工作。
But lavish – expensive and generous - benefits from the government,
但政府会提供慷慨的——丰厚而昂贵的——福利，
who also pay for upskilling or training in new skills,
政府还会为技能提升或新技能培训买单，
means that Danish unemployment is rarely out of control.
这意味着丹麦的失业问题很少会失控。
That's all we have time for,
以上就是我们本期节目的全部内容，
but come back soon for more trending topics and useful vocabulary here at 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English.
欢迎下次收听，更多热门话题和有用词汇就在BBC教学英语的《六分钟英语》。
Bye for now!
再见了！
Bye!
拜！