2022年经济学人 请病假越来越难（2）

（单词翻译）

Though all this is understandable, it is also troubling.

尽管这一切都可以理解，却还是会令人不安。

Tapping away at a laptop and smartphone from the discomfort¹ of a sick person’s bedroom is not as dangerous as driving a forklift.

身体不适的病人在卧室里敲击笔记本电脑和智能手机，并不像开叉车那么危险。

It nevertheless carries risks—both for the ill-disposed individual and their employer.

但还是有风险的--无论是对病人还是他们的雇主。

And it isn’t just covid, whose common symptoms include brain fog.

不仅仅是常见症状包括脑雾的新冠病毒。

Any bug² brings fatigue³.

任何疾病都会让人疲劳。

Being even mildly sick can impair⁴ brain function as much as high altitude, whose effect can feel like a bad hangover.

即使是轻微的疾病也会损害大脑功能，就像高海拔一样，让人感觉经历了一场严重的宿醉。

It is difficult to exercise proper judgment⁵ if one cannot focus on the task at hand.

如果一个人无法专注于手头的任务，就很难做出正确的判断。

It is why people with lower oxygen concentration sometimes remove protective clothes atop Mount Everest; some freeze to death.

这就是为什么缺氧的人有时会在珠穆朗玛峰顶上脱下防护服；其中一些人甚至会因此冻死。

Firing off emails while feeling dizzy and depleted⁶ will put the body under further stress and also risk being incoherent.

在感到头晕和疲惫的情况下发电子邮件会让身体承受更大压力，还可能会让人语无伦次。

Soldiering on may make the employee both sicker and less productive for longer.

硬撑着工作可能会加重员工病情，还会延长工作效率低的时间。

Digital presenteeism, for that is what such persisting amounts to, is in no one’s interest.

数字出勤主义就是这种硬撑的后果，对任何人都没好处。

Resisting it is therefore important.

因此，避免这种后果很重要。

You don’t need to have a blood transfusion⁷ or liver transplant to feel that you have earned a bit of time off.

没必要去输血或做肝移植来获取一点休息时间。

Sleeping soundly can restore body and spirit.

睡个好觉就可以帮助身体和精神恢复。

Staring at the ceiling gives you time to take stock of your harried⁸ life.

盯着天花板可以给你时间审视繁忙的生活。

Do not worry about being judged to be shirking.

不要担心会被别人认为是在逃避工作。

True laziness cannot be disguised—if someone is malingering, chances are that their bosses already know.

真正的懒惰是无法掩饰的--如果有人装病，很可能他们的老板早就心知肚明了。

In the world of flexible working, managers can lead by example, taking the occasional day off when suffering from a cold.

在灵活办公的世界里，经理们可以以身作则，在感冒时偶尔请一天假。

Why not use it as an opportunity to delegate tasks?

为什么不把这作为委派任务的机会呢？

This tends to build trust in a team and helps appraise⁹ subordinates’ strengths and weaknesses.

这往往会在团队中建立信任，并有助于评估下属的优缺点。

The dust will eventually settle on work habits in the hybrid¹⁰ era.

混合办公时代的工作方式终究会尘埃落定。

When it comes to illness, they will hopefully settle somewhere close to where they were in pre-covid days.

病假规定有望与疫情前大同小异。

Being sick is part of the human condition.

生病无可避免。

It is not going away.

不会消失。

Nor should sick days.

病假也一样。

Bartleby remembers lying on the sofa recovering from a stomach bug in New York 17 years ago, undisturbed by colleagues and untroubled by thoughts of work.

笔者还记得17年前在纽约的时候，因为胃病躺在沙发上，既没有同事打扰，也不受工作困扰。

The next time she is ailing¹¹, she will not be on Slack.

下次她生病时，不会再用Slack软件工作了。

Instead, she will listen to her managers and sign off.

而是会听取经理们的意见，休病假。