为什么上班越来越没劲？

The trials of a 2016 job: why so many of us are unhappy at work

Are you satisfied with your job? If you are anything like  by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), then the answer is probably no.

你对工作感到满意吗？如果你是英国特许人事与发展协会近期调查人群中的一员，答案是“不满意”。

The figures tell us that the big squeeze on UK workers following the 2008 crash continues unabated and might even be getting worse. Job satisfaction has reached a two-year low, according to the survey.

这一数据表明2008年金融危机以来对英国工人的压榨并未减轻，甚至更严厉。调查显示，工作满意度创两年新低。

Most of us do a rough job satisfaction calculation every day. We ask ourselves, typically on that long and dreary commute to the office: is our job giving us more than it takes?

我们大多数人每天都会粗略地进行工作满意度计算，尤其在漫长和无聊的通勤路上，我们会扪心自问：这份工作的获得比付出多吗？

If the answer is yes, then we are generally satisfied. But the CIPD survey shows that more are saying no. In fact, one in four UK employees are looking to leave their jobs.

如果答案是“没错”，那么我们整体而言是满意的。但学会调查显示多数人表示“不”。事实上，四分之一的英国雇员盼望离职。

What might be causing this malaise? Why has work become so bad for so many?

One basic driver is money. The way in which wages and salaries have flatlined over the last 20 years is deeply shocking. But things got really bad after the 2008 crisis. Between 2009 and 2014 , something that hasn’t happened since the Victorian era.

什么导致了这一困境？为什么工作对这么多人而言都如此糟糕？我们基本的驱动力是钱。过去二十年中，工资和收入停滞，这让我们震惊。可2008年危机后，情况变得更糟。2009年到2014年，真实工资逐年下降，自维多利亚女王时代以来，这从来没发生过。

We decide whether our pay is fair or not in absolute and relative terms. If our wages are barely covering the basic cost of living – rent, energy, food – then we feel under-rewarded in absolute terms.

我们用绝对和相对两种方法来考察工资是否合理。如果工资仅能满足基本生活开销，房租、水电、食物等，我们会在绝对程度上感觉得不偿失。

But then we compare what we get to others. From this perspective a bitter sense of injustice can grow. For example, even those lucky enough to get a whopping 5% pay increase this year (great in absolute terms) will still feel dissatisfied when they see BP CEO . Unless you’re one of those , feeling ripped off becomes a basic attitude and that takes its toll on workforce morale.

但我们还和周围人比较。从这个角度会产生对不公正的痛苦感。例如，那些今年加薪高达5%的幸运者（在绝对程度上并不少）也觉得不满意，他们看到英国石油的CEO鲍勃-杜德利竟然变态地拿1400万英镑。除非你是上榜某国神秘文件的那1%的人口，那么感觉被剥夺不啻为一种基本态度，对工作士气也造成严重影响。

This is why inequality is bad for everyone, not just the poor.

这是为何不公平对所有人都很糟糕，而不仅对穷人。

The CIPD survey also cites bad management as a cause of job dissatisfaction. We have all seen one of these individuals weaving their witchcraft in the office. Workers I have spoken with over the years express amazement not only at the damage one superior can cause over a short period, but that senior management ever thought it a good idea to hire them.

学会还指出糟糕的管理是工作失意的原因之一。我们都见过那些在办公室里胡搞一气的人。这些年我接触过的工人对此表达了惊异，不仅是一个上司在短期内造成的损害，高级管理层竟然认为这正是雇用他们的理由。

Look what  to New Zealand’s leading media firm MediaWorks – a drama that has gripped the nation for the last year. Mark Weldon was as hired as CEO in August 2014, with no background in media. He was a high-flier, charismatic, a mover and a shaker in the banking world.

新西兰顶尖媒体公司MediaWorks进来发生的事可见一斑，去年一直闹得沸沸扬扬。2014年8月，Mark Weldon被聘为CEO，他没有媒体从业经历。他是银行界的野心家、鼓动家和变革者，富有个人魅力。

However, his management style soon began to bite: namely, a mass exodus of talented news readers, producers and writers. Strangely enough, the senior board supported him up to the last moment, even as the human wreckage was plain to see.

可是他的管理方法很快出问题了，大量油菜花的新闻读者、制片人和作者出走了。真奇怪，高级领导支持他走到底，尽管名存实亡，这显而易见。

An exit sounds lovely but is unrealistic for most. For those unable to quit their jobs there are hundreds of online forums and coaching sites designed to help you cope with a difficult boss, or . This is no doubt a better option than a growing (and worrying) trend in the US. The National Bureau of Statistics found that .

对大多数而言，离开听起来不错，但并不现实。对纳西没法辞职的人而言，有几百个在线论坛和培训网站帮助他们应对执拗的老板甚或一个办公室变态。毫无疑问，这比美国强得多，美国日益诉诸枪支更令人担忧。美国国家统计局发现十分之一的已故管理者是被谋杀的。

The next cause of job dissatisfaction picked up in the CIPD survey is lack of training and development. For many workers there is no way to get gain better skills, get ahead or promoted. UK businesses are notorious for under-investment in capital and staff training. 

调查认为对工作不满的另一个原因是缺少培训和发展。对大多数工人而言没法获得更好的技能，有所进步，得到提升。对资本和员工培训投资不足是英国企业的特点。

For large multinational firms, this is because they adhere to a “stretch and extract” business model, otherwise known as asset sweating. , for example.

对大型跨国公司而言，因为他们遵循“挤榨”商业模式，也被称为资产剥削，看看英国的铁路系统就明白了。

The deep flaw with shareholder capitalism as it is religiously practised in the UK is that long-term investment is counted as a “loss” on the quarterly report for some offshore investor looking for quick returns. It encourages a short-term squeeze of employees, equipment and customers, and the government ( ie taxpayer) is usually left with the bill for investment.

在英国如宗教般运行的股东资本主义，其深刻缺陷是在季度报表上把长期投资视作对某些赚快钱的离岸投资者造成“损失”。它鼓励短期压榨员工、设备和客户，通常要求政府（也就是纳税人）来支付投资的账单。

This is one of the major reasons the UK economy is suffering a dire skills deficit and  compared with. Workers are not able to better themselves on the job. Human beings thrive on mastery and self-development. But if most of our day is spent somewhere that explicitly forbids that, then of course we will be unhappy, stuck in a rut.

这也是为何相比其他欧洲经济提而言，英国经济的技能赤贫，生产力奇低。工人没法再工作岗位上得到提升。人类因专业技能和自我发展而繁荣，可如果一天大多数时间花在显然禁止实现自我提升的事情上，我们当然不高兴，原地踏步。

The situation is exacerbated in the new workplaces that celebrate flat hierarchies, no job titles and informal structures, . According to the CIPD, instead of motivating workers, these environments can actually enhance a sense of disempowerment because there are no formal channels for promotion. And favouritism will inevitable flourish in such informal work conditions.

在层级扁平、没有职务、结构松散的新型工作单位就更糟糕了，例如Zappos。调查显示，这些环境非但不能激励工人，反而强化了无助感，因为没有正式的升值通道。在松散的工作条件下，任人唯亲将取而代之。

But I think the problem goes deeper. We are constantly reminded that we live in a vibrant democracy. As rational adults we have control over our destinies. But none of this seems to apply to the  in paid employment over a lifetime. That disconnect between democratic self-determination and the realities of work appears to be widening.

但我认为问题更严重。我们总被提醒说我们生活在一个富有活力的民主国家中。作为有理性的成年人，我们掌握着自己的命运。但这些都不适用于我们一生中92120个小时的赚钱时间。这种民主自决和工作现实间的脱节日趋严重。

One only wonders whether a refreshing democratic spring breeze might someday blow into the offices and firms of the UK, transforming work into something worthwhile again.

人们想知道有一天清新的民主春风是不是能刮到英国的办公室和公司里来，让工作再次有价值。

译者注：作者结尾抖了两个小幽默，第一是阿拉伯之春，第二是特朗普的尽管宣言“make America great again”。

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