In Sweden, Happiness in a Shorter Workday Can't Overcome the Cost太昂貴的快樂 瑞典實驗每天工作6小時


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2017/03/31 第164期 訂閱/退訂看歷史報份
 
 
紐時周報精選 In Sweden, Happiness in a Shorter Workday Can't Overcome the Cost太昂貴的快樂 瑞典實驗每天工作6小時
As Japan Ages, Menus Adapt to Finding the Gourmet in Purées人口老化 日本端出菜泥美食
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In Sweden, Happiness in a Shorter Workday Can't Overcome the Cost太昂貴的快樂 瑞典實驗每天工作6小時
文/Liz Alderman
譯/陳韻涵

A controversial experiment with a six-hour workday in one of Sweden's largest cities wrapped up this week with a cheerful conclusion: Shorter working hours make for happier, healthier and more productive employees.

There's just one catch. The practice is too expensive and unwieldy to become widespread in Sweden anytime soon.

把工時減為6小時的一項爭議性實驗,上個月在瑞典最大城市之一結束,得到了愉悅的結論:較短的工時使員工更快樂、更健康,也更有生產力。

只有一個但書。這種作法太昂貴也太不方便,短時間內難以拓展到瑞典全國。

The two-year trial, which took place in the southern city of Gothenburg, centered on a municipal retirement home where workers were switched to a six-hour day, from eight hours, with no pay cut. Seventeen new nursing positions were created to make up for the loss of time, at a cost of around 700,000 euros, or $738,000, a year.

Although it was small, the experiment stoked a widespread discussion about the future of work, namely whether investing in a better work-life balance for employees, and treating workers well rather than squeezing them, benefits the bottom line for companies and economies.

這項為期兩年的試驗在瑞典南部哥特堡市一處市立養老院進行,員工從每天上班8小時變成6小時,薪水不變。養老院增加了17個養護職缺以填補工時減少導致的人力缺口,每年支出約增加70萬歐元,合73.8萬美元(台幣2304萬元)。

這項實驗雖然規模不大,卻引發對未來工作的廣泛討論,亦即是否投資於改善員工工作與生活的平衡,善待員工而非壓榨他們,會給企業和經濟帶來根本的好處。

"The trial showed that there are many benefits of a shorter working day," said Daniel Bernmar, the leader of the Left party on Gothenburg's City Council, which had pushed for the experiment. "They include healthier staff, a better work environment and lower unemployment."

But the high price tag, and political skepticism about the practicality of a shorter workday, was likely to discourage widespread support for taking the concept nationwide.

"The government is avoiding talking about the issue," Mr. Bernmar said. "They're not interested in looking at the bigger picture."

大力推動這項實驗的哥特堡市市議會左派黨領袖貝恩馬說:「這項試驗顯示較短工時有許多好處,包括更健康的員工、更好的工作環境、更低的失業率。」

然而由於成本太高,政界又對短工時的實用性抱持懷疑態度,很可能使這項實驗推廣到全境遭受阻力。

貝恩馬說:「政府避談這個議題。他們也無意放大眼界來看這件事。」

While a growing number of countries and companies are studying the concept of employee happiness, the idea of improving it through shorter work hours has by no means gained broad traction. In Gothenburg, the City Council's conservative opposition parties derided the experiment as a utopian folly and sought to kill it, citing high costs for taxpayers and arguments that the government should not intrude in the workplace. The current government is also not backing a shorter workweek.

Even the handful of progressive political groups aligned with Mr. Bernmar's Left party have not made a six-hour workday in Sweden a priority in their platforms. Nor have large Swedish companies, including multinationals active around the world, embraced the idea. Other Swedish towns that previously conducted limited experiments with a shorter public-sector workweek eventually abandoned the concept, citing high costs and flawed implementation.

儘管研究員工幸福這個概念的國家和企業愈來愈多,透過縮減工時來加以改善的點子卻尚未獲得廣泛迴響。在哥特堡市,市議會保守派反對黨嘲笑這項實驗是烏托邦式的愚行並試圖扼殺它,理由是納稅人負擔太重,以及政府不應干預職場。瑞典政府也不支持縮短每周工作時數。

就連與貝恩馬的左派黨結盟的數個進步政治團體,也未將6小時工時列為最重要黨綱。瑞典各大企業,包括活躍於全球的跨國公司,也不熱中於這個點子。另有一些瑞典城鎮曾在公部門實施縮短每周工時的實驗,但最後都放棄這種做法,因為成本太高且執行上也有問題。

 
As Japan Ages, Menus Adapt to Finding the Gourmet in Purées人口老化 日本端出菜泥美食
文/Motoko Rich
譯/田思怡

The 94-year-old man had come for lunch at a Chinese restaurant, and he was determined to make the most of his squid and leek stir-fry.

Eigo Shinoda, a former shipbuilding executive and fighter pilot in World War II, spends his days in a wheelchair and has trouble eating solid food. But that was no impediment as he dug into his meal with a plastic turquoise spoon recently.

這位94歲的男士來到一家中國餐館用午餐,他打定主意要盡情享受他的韭菜炒墨魚。

筱田三郎曾任造船公司高級主管,二次大戰時開過戰鬥機,如今成天離不開輪椅,吃固體食物也有困難。但他最近用一根土耳其藍的塑膠湯匙舀食物大快朵頤,一點都難不了他。

That's because the staff at the restaurant, Kaze no Oto, had pureed the stir-fry in a food processor and served it to his group, which was from a nearby nursing home. While it didn't look that appetizing, it did the trick for Shinoda. He finished by licking his plate clean.

Kaze no Oto, in a suburb of Yokohama, is one of a few restaurants in Japan catering to an aging population with meals for those who have difficulty chewing or swallowing. In the way that restaurants have long offered children's menus, some are now offering special senior meals, too.

那是因為這家kaze no Oto餐廳的工作人員,用食物調理機把韭菜炒墨魚打成了泥,供給他們這群住在附近養老院的人享用。雖然這道菜泥看起來不怎麼開胃,但對筱田來說,這一招很成功,他把盤子舔得一乾二淨。

位在橫濱郊區的kaze no Oto餐廳,是為咀嚼和吞嚥有困難的老人準備餐食的少數日本餐廳之一。就和一般餐廳長久以來供應兒童餐一樣,有些餐廳現在也提供銀髮族專用餐。

Japan has the world's highest proportion of people 65 and older, at more than one-quarter of its population. The country is a global leader in adapting to the needs of an aging citizenry, with racks of reading glasses at bank counters and walking-cane holders in city offices.

With its expanding efforts to accommodate the growing population of the elderly, Japan offers a foretaste of the kinds of societal changes that are beginning to shake wealthy places with rapidly aging populations, including many countries in Western Europe as well as South Korea and Hong Kong.

日本65歲以上人口比率為全球最高,超過總人口的四分之一。這個國家在適應高齡國民需求方面居全球領導地位。銀行櫃台上有老花眼鏡架,市政府辦公室也有枴杖架。

日本為越來越多的老化人口提供便利著力日深,也從而向世人展示了開始搖撼人口快速老化富裕地區的一些社會變化,這些地區包括許多西歐國家,以及南韓和香港。

In Japan, companies are developing special thickening products that can be added to meals during preparation to alter the texture of various foods and ease swallowing. In a culture where meals are prepared with great care and artistry, the thickening gels make it possible for chefs to reshape the food into visually pleasing dishes.

At the Mutuai nursing home in Yokohama, nutritionists and chefs experiment regularly so that they can offer residents a variety of meals.

在日本,企業界正在研發讓食物變濃稠的特殊產品,在準備餐點時,可以加到食物裡,以改變各種食物的質地,變得容易吞嚥。在這種準備餐點極花功夫且當成藝術的文化裡,把食物變濃稠的膠化物讓廚師得以重新塑造食物的形狀,變成悅目的菜餚。

在橫濱的Mutuai養老院,營養師和廚師經常實驗新菜色,讓院內老人的食物能多所變化。

On a recent afternoon, the lunch menu was Japanese sea bass and sweet-and-sour marinated carrots and radishes, with a side dish of spinach and mushrooms. To adapt the meal to those with slight swallowing problems, the kitchen staff substituted flounder, a more tender fish, and removed the mushrooms and stems from the spinach.

For the residents who have more severe swallowing issues, the staff sent the meal through a food processor, adding a gel powder before cooking the pureed versions in vacuum-sealed plastic bags. Then the resulting gelatinous blocks were poured into molds so that the chefs could create meals that looked like a piece of fish accented with slices of carrots and radish.

在最近一個下午,午餐菜單有日本海鱸魚、酸甜口味的醃胡蘿蔔和蘿蔔,配菜有波菜和香菇。為照顧輕微吞嚥的老人,廚房工作人員幫這些人換上肉質更嫩的比目魚,並拿掉香菇和波菜的梗。

對於有更嚴重吞嚥問題的老人,工作人員把菜送進食物調理機,加入一種膠質粉,再把泥狀的菜放入塑膠袋真空密封後低溫烹調煮熟。之後把煮好的一塊塊凝膠倒入模型裡,廚師可以做出看起來像一塊魚的餐點,配上一片片的胡蘿蔔和蘿蔔。

說文解字看新聞

文/田思怡

本文報導日本人如何為老人料理美食,有幾個關鍵字,包括菜泥(puree)、食物調理機(a food processor)、把食物變濃稠的膠化物(thickening gels)、真空低溫烹調(cooking in vacuum-sealed plastic bags)。

puree源自法文,當名詞是做成泥狀的食物,通常是已煮熟的食物,例如,a puree of sweet potatoes and carrots(番薯和胡蘿蔔泥)。

當動詞是把食物做成泥狀,例如,use a food processor to puree the squid and leek stir-fry(用食物調理機把韭菜炒墨魚打成泥)。

thickening gels通常指生髮膠,這裡是指把食物變濃稠的膠化物。

cooking in vacuum-sealed plastic bags是種真空低溫烹調法,先把食材放入塑膠袋並真空密封,然後把整個袋子放入熱水長時間烹調,水溫通常在攝氏50度到80度間,烹調時間有時超過24小時。這種烹飪法目的是要帶出食材(尤其是肉類)的最好滋味。

 
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