Pfeffer教授发射了详实的炮弹

工作使人虚弱，缩短人的寿命，这是斯坦福商学院教授Jeffrey Pfeffer一本犀利的书中提出的观点。这种观点显然早已过时。健康与安全法规有助于解释，为何1970到2015年间，美国工作场所事故死亡人数下降了65%。但一个问题仍然存在：压力。根据一项名为“美国工作场所意见”的调查，高达80%的美国工作者在工作中承受着高压。接近一半的人认为自己太过虚弱，需要帮助。

至少企业也注意到了这个问题，华信惠悦（现隶属于韬睿惠悦的咨询公司）2008年一项研究发现，48%的组织认为工作压力影响工作表现。但只有5%的员工表示他们为缓解压力做了尝试。

Pfeffer先生的书关注的是问题看来尤为严重的美国。一项研究发现，55%的员工在晚上11点后登陆邮箱（与之相对，法国一项新的法律赋予员工工作时间结束后不看邮件的权利）；59%的员工在假日登陆邮箱，这还是他们确实有休假的情况下。超过半数的美国工作者没有完全使用法定假期。总之，Pfeffer先生估计，工作相关问题可能是每年造成多达12万美国人死亡的原因。通过与欧洲的情况对比，一半左右的死亡本可避免。

欧洲记录较好的一个原因是提供普遍的全民医疗服务。Pfeffer先生认为，美国工作死亡率更高最重要的原因在于全民医保的缺位，即使企业提供医保，通常也十分有限。一项调查估计，因为没有保险，工作年龄的成年人死亡风险增加了25%。很多参保员工也只有有限的保障。2015年盖洛普调查发现，接近1/3的美国人因为费用原因推迟了前一年的医疗。这对企业并无好处，身体欠佳的工作者生产力较低，更倾向于离职，意味着员工流失率更高。

Pfeffer先生也批评了美国的工作文化，美国企业相比其他国家裁员更快。他说，“员工的恐惧、疏离感和努力减少往往会抵消工资削减带来的正面影响”。而且一旦失业，健康问题可能随之而来。即使控制吸烟、饮酒和肥胖等因素，失去工作的美国人患心脏病的可能性也要高出22%。

Pfeffer先生认为零工经济的崛起使事态更加恶化。自由职业者不太可能参加医疗保险，由于收入不稳定和工作时间不规律，他们也可能承受更多压力。广义地说，赋予个人更多自主和控制权的工作，在增加动力的同时，也使人更健康，Mr Pfeffer如此写道。

许多人会认为Pfeffer先生夸大其词，他提出的一些问题植根于整个社会，并非只有商业领域如此。医疗保险体系的设计出于政治选择，而非商业取舍。经济下行造成失业率普遍上升，也非个别企业之过。当失业率像今日般创下历史新低，处于“非雇即走”文化中的工作者压力会有所减轻。就像零工经济使一些人工作缺少保障一样，对另一些人来说却意味着对工作生活更大的控制权。还有一些行为，如美国人不愿休假等，长期以来一直如此。

但Pfeffer先生呼吁人们关注压力问题是正确的，而且Pfeffer先生颇有说服力的指出，过去20年里，工作的不安全感和无处不在的电子通讯增加了压力。美国医保体系的巨大改变是不可能的，因此，最好寄希望于企业行为改变。

作者提到了保险集团Aetna和制造商Barry Wehmiller等公司，这些公司在不牺牲利益的情况下，引入了诸如健康计划和提高最低工资等政策。这种方式对于吉百利和朗特里等贵格会经营的英国甜点公司曾经有效。对于重新考虑这些方法，Pfeffer先生的书是有力的论据。

原文拾粹：

Work till you drop

Professor Pfeffer fires a  fact-filled fusillade

1、fusillade /ˌfjuːzɪ'leɪd/ n.一齐射击，快速连续射击，（批评等）连续猛烈的迸发 v.用猛烈炮火击落（或攻击）

WORK can make you sick and shorten your life. That is the argument of a hard-hitting book by Jeffrey Pfeffer, a professor at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. In an obvious way, that claim is outdated. Health-and-safety rules help explain why deaths from accidents in American workplaces fell by 65% between 1970 and 2015. But one problem has not gone away: stress. As many as 80% of American workers suffer from high levels of stress in their job, according to a survey entitled “Attitudes in the  American Workplace”. Nearly half say it is so debilitating that they need help.

2、hard-hitting，有力的，深刻的，犀利的，直言不讳的

3、debilitating /dɪ'bɪlɪteɪtɪŋ/ 使虚弱，使衰弱，削弱

Firms are at least aware of the issue. A study in 2008 by Watson Wyatt (a consultancy that is now part of Towers Watson) found that 48% of organisations said  job related stress affected performance. But only 5% of employers said they were doing anything to deal with the  matter.

Mr Pfeffer’s book focuses on America, where the problem seems particularly acute. One survey found  that 55% of employees log into their e-mails after 11pm (in contrast, a new French law gives employees the right to ignore e-mails after their working day has ended); 59% do so on holidays. That is, if they actually take a break at all; more than half of American workers eligible for holiday do not use all the time allotted. All told, Mr Pfeffer calculates that work-related issues may be responsible for as many as 120,000 American deaths a year. A comparison with Europe suggests that  around half of those deaths could be eliminated.

4、 All told，总共，总计

5、 be responsible for，对...负责，这里表示是...的原因，表达灵活地道

One reason for Europe’s better record is the provision of universal health care. Mr Pfeffer reckons that the absence of health insurance for all, and its often limited nature where firms do provide it, is the biggest single contributor to America’s higher work-related death rate. One survey estimated that being uninsured increased mortality risk by 25% among working-age adults. Many insured workers have restricted cover. In 2015 a Gallup survey found that almost a third of Americans delayed medical treatment in the previous year owing to the cost. None of this is good for businesses. Workers in poor health are less productive; they also tend to leave work, meaning higher staff turnover.

6、is the biggest single contributor to...，是...的最重要的原因，同样是表达原因，形式富于变化

7、restricted cover，有限的保障

8、owing to...，因为...，还是表达原因

9、staff turnover，员工流失率

Mr Pfeffer is also critical of  America’s work culture, in which firms are quicker than peers elsewhere to shed labour. “Increased employee fear, disengagement and reduced effort frequently swamp any positive direct effects that come from cutting costs by reducing the  payroll,” he argues. And if unemployment strikes, poor health may well follow. Americans who lose their jobs are 22% more likely to experience a heart attack, after controlling for factors such as smoking, drinking and obesity.

10、shed labour，裁员

11、swamp，n.湿地，沼泽 vt.淹没，使陷入困难，忙得不可开交 vi.淹没，沉没

Mr Pfeffer thinks that the  growth of the gig economy may make matters worse still. Freelance workers are less likely to have health insurance. They may also suffer higher levels of stress, over their unreliable incomes and irregular hours. Broadly speaking, jobs that give individuals more autonomy and control increase motivation and also make individuals healthier, Mr Pfeffer writes.

12、over...，由于...，又一种表示原因的方法，小词大用，又如，an argument over money为了钱的争吵

13、Broadly speaking，广义地说

Many will think Mr Pfeffer overstates his case. Some of the problems he describes are rooted in society as a whole, not business in particular. The design of health-care systems is a political choice, rather than a business one. A general rise in unemployment, caused by an economic downturn, is not the fault of individual businesses. The stress for workers of a hire-and-fire culture cuts less deep when unemployment is at record lows, as today. Much as the gig economy spells job insecurity for some, for others it means greater control of their working lives. And some behaviour, such as the unwillingness of Americans to take holidays, is long-standing.

14、society as a whole，整个社会

15、economic downturn，经济下行

16、at record lows，历史新低

17、Much as...虽然，尽管

18、for some..., for others...，对一些...，对另一些...

But Mr Pfeffer is right to call attention to the problem of stress, and persuasive that job insecurity and the ubiquity of electronic communication have added to the pressure in the past 20 years. A big change in America’s  health-care system is unlikely. So the best hope may lie in a change in corporate behaviour.

19、ubiquity  /juː'bɪkwətɪ/ n.无处不在，随处可见

作者提到了保险集团Aetna和制造商Barry Wehmiller等公司，这些公司在不牺牲利益的情况下，引入了诸如健康计划和提高最低工资等政策。这种方式对于吉百利和朗特里等贵格会经营的英国糖果公司曾经有效。对于重新考虑这些方法，Pfeffer先生的书是有力的论据。

The author cites firms such as Aetna, an insurance group, and Barry Wehmiller, a manufacturer, which have introduced policies such as wellness programmes and a higher minimum wage, without sacrificing profits. That model worked in the past for Quaker-run British confectionery businesses such as Cadbury and Rowntrees. Mr Pfeffer’s  book is a powerful argument for looking at it again.

20、confectionery /kən'fekʃənərɪ/ 甜食（糖果、巧克力等）

译者注：本文选自《经济学人》（2018年7月21日）