自由职业者的不安全感

近年来，许多征兆显示出传统工作的衰落。人们一生为多个老板工作，承担多种角色，相比过去有更灵活的日程安排，现在这几乎已成了定律。这是一种需要关注的变化，还是能让工作者从琐碎的办公室生活中解放出来？人们的观点仍然存在分歧。

这种转变真的发生了吗？美国劳工统计局（BLS）6月7日发布的一些数据显示，去年美国工人只有10.1%属于“灵活就业”，这个比例低于2005年的10.7%。与之相对，财政研究所（IFS）关于英国经济的一项研究显示，自主创业者数量在增加，个体经营者数量在2007-08年和2015-16年之间增长了25%。

这两个指标并不相同，但在统计上有一个清晰的界定并不容易，因为工作本身就难以定义。创业市场具有多种形态。顶端的有工资六位数的独立顾问，他们的创业状态还能带来税收优惠，底层的有通过中介的清洁工，他们依靠最低工资生活。有一些人签订的是“零小时合同”，这使得他们无法预知下周的收入。还有“零工经济”类工作——通过网站工作的人，如帮助人工智能程序为照片贴标签的自由职业者。很多人通过零工经济增加收入，而不是以此为生。

最适合这种方式的是有大量顾客需求的技术专家和工匠。但很多人仅仅依靠唯一的顾客，这使他们更容易受到环境变化影响。Bartleby的一个老朋友有一个为大企业提供技术支持的滚动合同，报酬丰厚，但没有带薪假、病假或退休金，而且这个合同只需要提前一个月通知即可终止。

财政研究所（IFS）数据显示，尽管2007-08年来个体经营者数量增加，但他们的营业总额减少了19%，同期实际平均利润减少了23%。这八年（期间包括经济大萧条时期），传统从业者的实际收入减少了6%。因此，比之传统从业者，对于灵活就业的英国人而言，这八年情况更糟。一种解释是，自由职业者很多工作来自于企业繁忙时期外包的工作。经济萧条时期，这些企业的外包需求随之变少。

至于零工经济，实际上只占灵活就业份额的一小部分。从事建筑业或工商服务业的人员远多于Uber司机。零工经济工作者也并不是一个高度同质的群体。在《零工：零工经济，职业的结束和工作的未来》中，Sarah Kessler讲述了几个工作者的故事。程序员Curtis Larson因为其技术优势发展得很好，他最后在Elon Musk的火箭公司SpaceX找了一份全职工作。但其他几位发现从事零工经济薪水太低，利润有限。正如Sarah Kessler在书中所写，“不新增雇员就把工作搞定比过去任何时候都更容易，但是不断增长的非传统就业群体既没有劳动保护，也没有法律给予雇员的安全网。”

一些零工经济工作者尝试将同业者组织起来，形成类似美国工会这样的机构。但这是一项困难的工作。零工工作者不在一个单一的地方聚集，这使得招募他们变得很难。这周，一名英国水管工人费尽千辛万苦才在最高法院获得胜诉，将他归于获得收益的“工作者”而不是自由职业者。

最无助的就业者要属“临时工”了，据美国劳工统计局（BLS）统计，3.8%的美国工作者属于此类。这些临时工作者可以被视为劳动者的“后备军”，雇主可利用其压低工资。（这或许能够解释美国近来实际收入的增长停滞。但只有后备军随着时间不断增长，这种观点才能成立， 美国劳工统计局（BLS）的数据让人对此产生怀疑。）

这样的工作者更可能是小于25岁的年轻人，比起传统从业人员，他们更可能没有医疗保险，其中的55%都倾向于有一份稳定的工作。不安全感使得这样的工作者存钱买房甚至结婚都变得更难。灵活就业或许是一个时髦的概念，但其中一些取舍对于普通工作者而言并不像看上去那么美好。

原文拾粹：

A job is for Christmas, not for life

The insecurity of freelance life

THE decline of the conventional job has been much heralded in recent years.It is now nearly axiomatic that people will work for a range of employers in a variety of roles over their lifetimes, with a much more flexible schedule than in the past.Opinion is still divided over whether this change is a cause for concern or a chance for workers to be liberated from the rut of office life.

1、herald，预示，显示，此处用被动时态

2、It is now nearly axiomatic that...，...现在几乎成了定律

3、a range of，a variety of，一些，多个，同样的意思，不同的表达

4、Opinion is still divided over...，对于...（人们的）意见仍有分歧

5、a cause for concern，需要关注的（问题）

6、the rut of office life，琐碎的办公室生活

Is the shift really happening? Some figures from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS), released on June 7th, showed that only 10.1% of American workers were in “alternative employment” last year, a lower proportion than the 10.7% recorded in 2005. In contrast, a study of the British economy by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) shows that the self-employed sector has been growing, with the number of self-employed sole traders rising by 25% between 2007-08 and 2015-16.

7、alternative employment，灵活就业

These two measures are different. But getting a good statistical fix is not easy when the jobs are hard to define.The ecology of the alternative-employment market has many species. At the top end are independent consultants with six-figure salaries and tax advantages from their self-employed status; at the bottom are cleaners on the minimum wage working for an agency. Some people will be on “zero hours” contracts where they are unsure of their income from week to week. Then there are jobs in the “gig economy”—people connected to work via websites, such as freelancers labelling photos to help artificial-intelligence programs. Plenty of people use the gig economy to top up income, rather than relying on it.

8、top up，增加，加满

The best placed are skilled professionals and artisans whose work is in demand from a wide range of customers. But many people will be dependent on a single client, which makes them vulnerable to any change in their circumstances. An old friend of Bartleby has a rolling contract to provide tech support to a big firm. The money is good but there is no paid holiday, sick pay or pension, and the contract can be ended with a month’s notice.

9、rolling contract，滚动合同，可自动续约的合同

The IFS figures show that, although the number of self-employed traders has increased since 2007-08, their aggregate turnover dropped by 19% and their average profits fell by 23% in real terms over the same period. The eight years in question, which included the Great Recession, were thus much worse for self-employed Britons than for conventionally employed people, whose real earnings fell by 6%. One explanation may be that a lot of self-employed work comes from firms “contracting out” tasks in busy periods. When the economy stutters, they have less need for help.

10、aggregate turnover，营业总额

11、drop，fall，减少，同样的意思，不同的表达

12、in real terms，实际上，按实际计算

13、...in question，我们所说的...，被讨论的...

14、stutter，口吃，艰难进行

As for the gig economy, it actually seems to be quite a small part of the alternative-employment sector. Far more people work in construction or business services than drive cars for Uber. And gig-economy workers are not a homogenous group. In her book, “Gigged: The Gig Economy, the End of the Job and the Future of Work”, Sarah Kessler tells the stories of several workers. One, Curtis Larson, a computer programmer, prospered because of his skills—he eventually took a full-time job, at SpaceX, ElonMusk’s rocket firm. But others found the pay low and the benefits poor. As Ms Kessler writes: “It’s easier than ever to get work done without hiring someone as an employee. But the growing group of non-traditional workers that results has no access to labour protections or safety nets provided by law to employees.”

15、homogenous group，同质群体

Some gig-economy workers have tried to organise their colleagues into the equivalent of trade unions in America. But it is a difficult task. Gig employees do not gather in a single place where they can be recruited. It took a long fight for a British plumber to win his case this week before the Supreme Court to be classed as a “worker”with benefits rather than self-employed.

16、It took a long fight for...to...，...费劲千辛万苦才...

The most vulnerable employees seem to be those classed as “contingent workers”—3.8% of the American workforce, according to the BLS. These temporary workers can be viewed as a “reserve army” of labour that employers can use to hold down wages. (This might explain the sluggish growth of real earnings in America of late; but that argument holds water only if the reserve army is growing over time, and the BLS data cast doubt on that.)

17、contingent workers，临时工

18、reserve army，后备军

19、hold down，压制，压低

20、of late，近来

21、argument/theory holds water，理论能够成立

22、cast doubt on...，使人对...产生怀疑

Such workers are more likely to be under 25 and less likely to have health insurance than those in regular employment; 55% of them would prefer a permanent job. Insecurity makes it difficult for such workers to save for home ownership or even to get married. Alternative employment may be a trendy concept, but some of the alternatives turn out to be not that great for ordinary workers.

23、save for home ownership，存钱买房

24、trendy concept，时髦的概念

译者注：本文选自《经济学人》（2018年6月16日），翻译水平有限，如有不当，欢迎指正。

“本译文仅供个人研习、欣赏语言之用，谢绝任何转载及用于任何商业用途。本译文所涉法律后果均由本人承担。本人同意简书平台在接获有关著作权人的通知后，删除文章。”