Summary：

本文主要讲述政府如何应该零工经济（gig economy）的崛起（从网上获取的短期工作）

• 其实零工经济的规模目前还没有我们想想的那么大，所听到的骇人听闻的坏影响远没有那么夸张

• 零工经济对社会也有积极的影响：对消费者的好处显而易见；增加就业；作为全职工作之外的收入的额外的支撑；享受充分的自由和自治权

• 当然零工经济也不完美，尤其对零工和零工网站的法律地位很难界定以及零工的权益保障问题

• 依靠两个机制解决问题：一个是市场，竞争市场会提高零工的待遇福利；一个是政府和和社会的努力：政府完善法律；零工有效组织在一起

以下是原文：

Workers on tap 可随时使用的员工

How governments should deal with the rise of the gig economy 政府应该如何应对零工经济的崛起

THE Archbishop of Canterbury sees it as “the reincarnation of an ancient evil”. Elizabeth Warren, a senator from Massachusetts, says that, for many workers, it is the “next step in a losing effort to build some economic security in a world where all the benefits are floating to the top 10%”. Luigi Di Maio, Italy’s deputy prime minister, is going after it as part of his “war on precarious work”.

坎特伯雷大主教认为这是“一个古老恶魔的转世再生”。马萨诸塞州参议员伊丽莎白•沃伦(Elizabeth Warren)表示，对于许多工人来说，这是“在一个所有福利都流向最富10%人群的世界上，建立某种经济安全的努力失败的下一步”。意大利副总理路易吉•迪•马约(Luigi Di Maio)正在追查此事，作为他“向不稳定工作开战”的一部分。

For many, the “gig economy”, in which short-term jobs are assigned via online platforms, is a potent symbol of how modern capitalism has failed. Critics rail that it allows firms to rid themselves of well-paid employees, replacing them with cheap freelancers. Workers who once relied on an employer to pay into their pension, or to cover their health care when they fell ill, must instead save for the future themselves. On this reading, the gig economy turbocharges insecurity and the erosion of workers’ hard-won rights. There is a grain of truth to this. But it misses the bigger picture.

对许多人来说，“零工经济”——即通过网络平台分配短期工作——是现代资本主义失败的有力象征。批评人士指责说，这使得公司可以用廉价的自由职业者取代高薪雇员。那些曾经依靠雇主支付退休金或在生病时支付医疗保险的工人，必须自己为未来存钱。根据以上的解读，零工经济加剧了不安全感，侵蚀了工人来之不易的权利。这是有一点道理的。但它忽略了更大的图景。

For one thing, despite city streets clogged with Uber drivers and Deliveroo cyclists, gigging is not about to take over the world. Across the OECD club of mostly rich countries, the share of workers in full-time positions, which dropped after the financial crisis of 2008-09, has been rising. In America the average job tenure has barely changed in the past 30 years. Depending on whom you ask, 1-5% of Americans gig—but many of those have salaried jobs as well.

首先，尽管城市街道上挤满了优步(Uber)司机和骑自行车送货的人，但零工经济并不会主宰世界。在经合组织(OECD)大多数富裕成员国中，全职工作人员的比例。虽然在2008年至2009年的金融危机之后有所下降，现在也在稳步上升。在美国，平均工作期限在过去30年几乎没有变化。根据所问对象不同，约1%到5%的美国人是零时工，但他们中的许多人都有带薪的工作。

However, the fact that it is smaller than you might think is not the gig economy’s strongest defence. That rests on how gigging brings important benefits to the economy. The advantages for consumers are clear. With a swipe or a click, almost anyone can get Rover walked in the park or a vital document copy-edited within hours.

然而，零工规模比你可能认为的要小的事实并不是零工经济最有力的反驳观点。强有力的反驳来自于零工如何给经济带来重要福利。对消费者的好处显而易见。只要轻轻一击或点击一下，几乎任何人都能在几小时内让罗孚在公园里散步，或让重要的文件在几小时内复制编辑。

Crucially, benefits also accrue to workers. The algorithms that underpin gig-economy platforms improve the “matching” between giggers and jobs, leading to less dead time. The evidence that gig workers face a pay penalty compared with conventional employees is patchy; many say they value the extra autonomy they enjoy compared with salaried workers. Gig platforms are a useful way of topping up income or smoothing out earnings if other sources of work dry up. They can also break open closed industries. Research shows that the arrival of Uber in American cities leads on average to a 50% surge in the number of self-employed taxi-drivers.

至关重要的是，工人也能从中获益。支撑零工经济平台的算法改善了零工和j工作之间的“匹配”，从而减少了不必要的窝工时间。与传统员工相比，零工工人面临薪酬处罚的证据并不充分;许多人说，与拿薪水的工人相比，他们更看重自己享有的额外自主权。如果其他工作来源枯竭，零工平台是一种增加收入或缓解收入的有效方式。它们还可以打破封闭的行业。研究表明，优步进入美国城市后，个体出租车司机的数量平均会激增50%。

But the gig economy is not perfect. Platforms argue they are no more than neutral marketplaces in which workers and customers meet. By this logic, workers ought to count as self-employed. But the standards to which some platforms hold workers tell a different story. Food-delivery riders are often told to wear a uniform; drivers for ride-hailing apps need to maintain a good rating or can be kicked off the platform. Platforms have a legitimate interest in maintaining their quality of service. But it cannot be right that some firms specify how workers must submit to the duties of acting like employees even as they reject the responsibilities of acting like employers.

但零工经济并不完美。平台们认为，它们只不过是工人和客户见面的中立市场。按照这种逻辑，工人应该算作个体经营者。但一些平台对员工的标准却不同。送餐员经常被告知要穿制服;网约车应用的司机需要保持良好的评级，否则就会被踢出这个平台。平台在保持服务质量上有合法的利益。但有些公司明确规定，员工必须承担员工的责任，但平台自己却不承担雇主的责任，这是不对的。

One proposal, being floated in America, is to create a third category of worker, sitting somewhere between self-employed and employed. Yet the boundaries between classifications will always be fuzzy. Britain already has such a third category. It is also the place where arguments about the legal status of gig workers are most vigorous.

一项在美国提出的提议是建立介于个体经营者和受雇者之间的第三类工人。然而，这样分类之间的界限总是模糊的。英国已经有了这样的第三类员工的划分，而划分之处也是关于零工工人法律地位的争论最激烈的地方。

Better to rely on two other mechanisms. The first is the market. Unemployment is low and pay is starting to rise—Amazon this week announced big bumps in the minimum wages it pays American and British workers. The platforms will need to respond. Some gig-economy firms are voluntarily offering their workers health insurance. Competition between gig firms also helps. Italian food-delivery riders boast of how they play platforms off against each other in their efforts to get better pay and benefits. Innovations such as Australia’s GigSuper, a fund which makes it easier for gig workers to save for a pension, are also welcome.

最好依赖另外两种机制。首先是市场。失业率低，工资开始上涨——亚马逊本周宣布对美国和英国工人的最低工资进行大幅调整。这些平台需要做出回应。一些零工经济公司自愿为员工提供医疗保险。零工公司之间的竞争也有帮助。意大利的送餐者们吹嘘他们如何通过平台互相竞争来获得更好的收入和福利。像澳大利亚的GigSuper这样的创新也很受欢迎，该基金让零工更容易存钱养老。

A helping hand

The other mechanism is to help workers claim their existing rights. One option is to make it simpler for disgruntled gig workers to use the judicial system. Precedent-setting rulings on the status of gig workers may be piling up, but the barriers to going to court in the first place are often too high. Another option is to help giggers organise, in order to mitigate the low bargaining power the self-employed often face compared with employees. A third option is to boost the credibility of the system for detecting and prosecuting deliberate infractions of employment law. America has just one labour inspector for every 100,000 employed people, the world’s joint-lowest ratio. Simply insisting that firms follow the rules would give workers greater protection while ensuring that the gig economy lives up to its enormous promise.

另一种机制是帮助员工争取他们现有的权利。一种选择是简化心怀不满的零工工人使用司法系统的程序。关于零工工人地位的先例性裁决可能正在堆积，但一开始上法庭的障碍往往太高。另一种选择是帮助零工组织起来，以减轻个体经营者相对于雇员来说要面临的更低的议价能力。第三种选择是提高该系统的可信度，以发现和起诉故意违反劳动法的行为。美国每10万就业人口只有1名劳动检查员，是世界上劳动人口比检查员比例最低的国家。只要坚持企业遵守规则，就能给工人更大的保护，同时确保零工经济不负其巨大的承诺。

Vocabulary you may need to learn：

a grain of truth :

          些许的真理；一点儿可信的东西

archbishop [ɑːtʃ'bɪʃəp; 'ɑːtʃ-] :

          n. 大主教；总教主

gig [gɪg] :

          n. 旋转物；鱼叉；轻便双轮马车；现场演出；临时工作 vt. 使…起绒；用鱼叉叉；记过处分 vi. 乘轻便双轮马车；起绒；叉鱼

gig economy :

          零工经济

on tap :

          可随时使用

reincarnation [,riːɪnkɑː'neɪʃ(ə)n] :

          n. 再生；化身

evil ['iːv(ə)l; -vɪl] :

          n. 罪恶，邪恶；不幸 adj. 邪恶的；不幸的；有害的；讨厌的

security [sɪ'kjʊərətɪ] :

          n. 安全；保证；证券；抵押品 adj. 安全的；保安的；保密的

float [flot] :

          vt. 使漂浮；实行; vi. 浮动；飘动，散播；摇摆；付诸实施; n. 彩车，花车；漂流物；浮舟；浮萍;

deputy prime minister :

          副总理；副首相

deputy ['depjʊtɪ] :

          n. 代理人，代表 adj. 副的；代理的

prime [praɪm] :

          n. 初期；青年；精华；全盛时期 adj. 主要的；最好的；基本的 vt. 使准备好；填装 vi. 作准备 adv. 极好地

go after :

          追求，追逐

precarious [prɪ'keərɪəs] :

          adj. 危险的；不确定的

rail [reɪl] :

          n. 铁轨；扶手；横杆；围栏 vt. 铺铁轨；以横木围栏 vi. 抱怨；责骂

rid [rɪd] :

          vt. 使摆脱；使去掉

rid of :

          除去，摆脱

freelancer ['friːlɑːnsə(r)] :

          n. 自由记者；自由作家

pension ['penʃ(ə)n] :

          n. 退休金，抚恤金；津贴；膳宿费 vt. 发给养老金或抚恤金

turbocharge ['tɝbotʃɑrdʒɚ] :

          vt. 用涡轮给增压

erosion [ɪ'rəʊʒ(ə)n] :

          n. 侵蚀，腐蚀

clog [klɒg] :

          n. 障碍；木底鞋 v. 阻塞；障碍

tenure ['tenjə] :

          n. 任期；占有 vt. 授予…终身职位

defence [dɪ'fens] :

          n. 防御；防卫；答辩；防卫设备

rest on :

          停留在；依靠；被搁在；信赖

swipe [swaɪp] :

          vt. 猛击；偷窃；刷…卡; n. 猛击；尖刻的话; vi. 猛打；大口喝酒

accrue [ə'kruː] :

          vt. 获得；积累 vi. 产生；自然增长或利益增加

algorithm ['ælgərɪð(ə)m] :

          n. [计][数] 算法，运算法则

underpin [ʌndə'pɪn] :

          vt. 巩固；支持；从下面支撑；加强…的基础

dead time :

          停滞时间；窝工时间

penalty ['pen(ə)ltɪ] :

          n. 罚款，罚金；处罚

patchy ['pætʃɪ] :

          adj. 不调和的；拼凑成的；有补丁的

autonomy [ɔː'tɒnəmɪ] :

          n. 自治，自治权

top up :

          加满；充值

smooth out :

          (尤指通过谈话) 解决 消除；使平滑

dry up :

          干涸；住口

break open :

          砸开；摔下裂开；以暴力启开

logic ['lɒdʒɪk] :

          n. 逻辑；逻辑学；逻辑性 adj. 逻辑的

ride-hailing :

          打车服务

kick off :

          [足球]中线开球；[口]（使）开始；[美，口]死；踢开

legitimate [lɪ'dʒɪtɪmət] :

          adj. 合法的；正当的；合理的；正统的 vt. 使合法；认为正当（等于legitimize）

submit to :

          v. 提交；向…提出；. 服从，屈服；使……受到

fuzzy ['fʌzɪ] :

          adj. 模糊的；失真的；有绒毛的

vigorous ['vɪg(ə)rəs] :

          adj. 有力的；精力充沛的

mechanism ['mek(ə)nɪz(ə)m] :

          n. 机制；原理，途径；进程；机械装置；技巧

voluntarily ['vɒl(ə)ntærɪlɪ] :

          adv. 自动地；以自由意志

boast [bəʊst]

          n. 自夸；值得夸耀的事物，引以为荣的事物 vi. 自吹自擂 vt. 夸口说，自吹自擂说；以有…而自豪

disgruntled [dɪs'grʌnt(ə)ld]

          adj. 不满的；不高兴的

judicial [dʒuː'dɪʃ(ə)l]

          adj. 公正的，明断的；法庭的；审判上的

precedent ['presɪd(ə)nt]

          n. 先例；前例 adj. 在前的；在先的

pile up

          积累，堆放起来

mitigate ['mɪtɪgeɪt]

          vt. 使缓和，使减轻 vi. 减轻，缓和下来

prosecute ['prɒsɪkjuːt]

          vt. 检举；贯彻；从事；依法进行 vi. 起诉；告发；作检察官

infraction [ɪn'frækʃ(ə)n]

          n. 违反

live up to

          不辜负；做到；实践

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