来源：《卫报》
刊登日期：2021年5月18日
On Tuesday, a study by a British thinktank highlighted a new social divide, one that emerged in the context of Covid and is likely, in some form, to remain when the pandemic is behind us. In 2019, only 5% of employees worked mainly from home, but that number grew to almost 50% during the lockdowns. Remote working has become particularly prevalent among the higher-paid and higher-educated, as a substantial part of the knowledge economy successfully migrates to affluent suburbs in London and elsewhere. Figures released by the Office for National Statistics this week reveal that 70% of all staff in Richmond upon Thames worked from home at some point during the pandemic.
周二，英国一家智库的一项研究强调了一种新的社会鸿沟，这种鸿沟出现在新冠疫情的背景下，当疫情结束后，很可能以某种形式继续存在。2019年，只有5%的员工主要在家工作，但在封锁期间，这一数字增长到了近50%。随着知识经济的很大一部分成功地迁移到伦敦和其他地方的富裕郊区，远程工作在收入较高和受教育程度较高的人群中尤为普遍。英国国家统计局本周公布的数据显示，泰晤士河沿岸里士满市70%的员工在新冠大流行期间曾有在家办公的经历。
The implications of this shift need to be thought through. For millions of mostly better-off citizens able to work from home, a hybrid working week – part-home, part-office – seems likely in the future. This will have a sizeable impact on the country’s economic geography. The Nationwide building society and Santander UK, for example, have already announced the closure of swathes of urban office space. Nationwide has advised 13,000 staff that they are free to work at home from anywhere in the country. HSBC intends to cut office space, but require its staff to come in for part of the week. As other businesses follow suit, and the shift to online shopping continues, the decline of high streets and urban centres may accelerate. Providers of local goods and services may struggle and may be forced to relocate. Places and individuals that could be losers in this process must be properly supported and provided with meaningful options and assistance.
这种转变的影响需要深思熟虑。对于数百万能够在家工作的富裕公民来说，一种混合工作周——半在家半办公室——似乎很有可能在未来出现。这将对英国的经济地理产生相当大的影响。例如，英国全国建房互助协会和桑坦德英国银行已经宣布关闭大量城市写字楼。英国全国建房互助协会已经建议13000名员工在国内任何地方都可以自由在家工作。汇丰打算削减办公空间，但要求员工每周有部分时间来上班。随着其他企业纷纷效仿，向网上购物的转变仍在继续，商业街和城市中心的衰落可能会加速。本地商品和服务的提供者可能会遇到困难，并可能被迫搬迁。必须适当支持可能在这一进程中受害的地区和个人，并向他们提供有意义的选择和援助。
For businesses, the main advantage of staying wholly or partly on Zoom is obvious: in one recent survey, 88% of organisations said that they made real-estate savings in 2020 through remote working; 92% expected further cost reductions in the next two to three years. For employees, the picture is more complicated. The loss of a stressful daily commute has certainly not been mourned. But as a short-term novelty has turned into the new normal, there has been evidence of a sense of social disconnection and burnout. Matthew Taylor, the author of a 2017 government review on work, warned this month that a high level of working from home risked creating “highly atomised workforces”, lacking the kind of solidarity and mutual support that should be part of a good working experience. Andy Haldane, the Bank of England’s outgoing chief economist, has suggested that an online working world can become a long-term drain on creativity and collaboration. For young people starting out in their careers, the physical workplace provides crucial opportunities to bond with colleagues and get the feel of an organisation.
对于企业来说，完全或部分使用Zoom的主要优势是显而易见的：在最近的一项调查中，88%的企业表示，他们通过远程办公在2020年节省了房地产开支；92%的受访企业预计未来两到三年内成本将进一步下降。对于员工来说，情况就复杂多了。没有人会为没有紧张的日常通勤而悲伤。但随着一种短期的新鲜感变成了一种新常态，有证据表明，人们有一种社交脱节感和倦怠感。2017年政府工作评估报告的作者马修•泰勒本月警告称，大量在家办公可能会产生“高度原子化的劳动力”，缺乏一种团结和相互支持，而这种团结和支持本该是良好工作体验的一部分。即将离任的英国央行首席经济学家安迪•霍尔丹提出，线上工作环境可能会长期消耗创造力和协作能力。对于刚开始职业生涯的年轻人来说，有形的工作场所提供了与同事建立信任关系、感受组织的关键机会。
In some form, working from home is set to remain part of millions of people’s lives. But there must be careful thinking on how to alleviate its downsides, both for those in the virtual working world and those trying to make a living outside it.
在某种程度上，在家工作将成为数百万人生活的一部分。但对于那些身处虚拟工作世界的人和那些试图在虚拟工作世界之外谋生的人来说，我们必须仔细考虑如何减轻它的负面影响。