当雇主对员工太过关心【经济学人精讲】第196期

   戳上方蓝色字“英文杂志精选”关注我们哟

第196期精讲

本文选自经济学人2019年1月5日文章。雇主对员工往往具有家长式态度，他们为员工提供“健康”计划，以期能转化成经济回报，科技的进步更是为一些雇主追踪员工的运动水平提供便利。一些公司为自己的员工提供诸如Fitbits等运动追踪设备来监控、刺激员工运动，更有甚者在员工皮肤内植入芯片。雇主关心员工健康无可厚非，但员工隐私也值得关注。

由于篇幅较长，本文节选原文标题和全文重点段落进行精讲，帮助大家提高英语阅读和写作能力。

1 英文原文

The spy who hired me

When employer health programmes go too far

Jan 5th 2019

THE NEW YEAR is the moment when people vow to improve their fitness. They join gyms, swear off alcohol and adopt detox diets. These resolutions usually do not last beyond January.

But some employers try to help their workers stick to their goals by offering “wellness” programmes. One of the longest-running examples began in 1979 at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), an American health-care company. The plan promotes weight loss, smoking cessation and efforts to reduce blood pressure. The firm claims it reduced medical costs by $400 an employee per year, and resulted in fewer workers suffering from heart disease or high blood pressure.

Yet an examination of the data by Martin Cherniack of the University of Connecticut* found that in 2005-08, a sharp jump in alcohol use, depression and stress among J&J employees occurred. This coincided with a period when the firm had a target of lifting productivity by 9% a year. So the employees may have been leaner and fitter, but it is possible that workplace pressure to produce more meant greater stress.

2 选文精讲

The spy who hired me 间谍雇主

When employer health programmes go too far 当雇主健康计划走得太远

THE NEW YEAR is the moment when people vow to improve their fitness. They join gyms, swear off alcohol and adopt detox diets. These resolutions usually do not last beyond January.

• swear off: 发誓戒除

• detox: 排毒（疗法）detox diets: 排毒饮食

新年是人们发誓要健身的时刻。他们加入健身房，发誓戒酒，采用排毒饮食，但这些决定通常不会持续到1月以后。

But some employers try to help their workers stick to their goals by offering “wellness” programmes. One of the longest-running examples began in 1979 at Johnson & Johnson (J&J), an American health-care company. The plan promotes weight loss, smoking cessation and efforts to reduce blood pressure. The firm claims it reduced medical costs by $400 an employee per year, and resulted in fewer workers suffering from heart disease or high blood pressure.

• stick to: 坚持

• weight loss: 减肥

• smoking cessation: 戒烟

但一些雇主试图通过提供“健康”计划来帮助员工坚持自己的目标。历史最悠久的例子之一始于1979年的强生公司，这是一家美国医疗保健公司。该计划提倡减肥、戒烟和努力降低血压。该公司声称，这项计划每年为每位员工减少400美元的医疗费用，并使患心脏病或高血压的员工减少。

Yet an examination of the data by Martin Cherniack of the University of Connecticut* found that in 2005-08, a sharp jump in alcohol use, depression and stress among J&J employees occurred. This coincided with a period when the firm had a target of lifting productivity by 9% a year. So the employees may have been leaner and fitter, but it is possible that workplace pressure to produce more meant greater stress.

• jump: 暴涨

• coincide with: 与...一致

然而，康涅狄格大学的马丁·切尼克对数据进行了分析后发现，2005年至2008年，强生员工饮酒、抑郁和压力急剧上升，与此同时，该公司恰好在这一时间段制定了每年提高9%生产率的目标。因此，员工可能更瘦、更健康，但也有可能，生产更多产品的工作压力，意味着更大的压力。