世界上的一些發(fā)達(dá)國(guó)家紛紛開(kāi)始試行縮短工作時(shí)間，而日本卻依然在“工作至死”的加班文化中掙扎。如果日本也試行四天工作制，效果會(huì)怎么樣呢？來(lái)看看微軟的最新試驗(yàn)。

A growing number of smaller companies are adopting a four-day workweek. Now the results of a recent trial at Microsoft (MSFT) suggest it could work even for the biggest businesses.

越來(lái)越多中小公司開(kāi)始采用四天工作制。如今微軟近日的試驗(yàn)結(jié)果顯示，就算在大企業(yè)也能見(jiàn)效。

The company introduced a program this summer in Japan called the "Work Life Choice Challenge," which shut down its offices every Friday in August and gave all employees an extra day off each week.

今夏微軟公司在日本引進(jìn)了一個(gè)名為“工作生活選擇挑戰(zhàn)”的項(xiàng)目，八月的每個(gè)周五都會(huì)關(guān)閉辦公室，讓所有員工每周都能多放一天假。

The results were promising: While the amount of time spent at work was cut dramatically, productivity — measured by sales per employee — went up by almost 40% compared to the same period the previous year, the company said in a statement last week.

結(jié)果還不錯(cuò)：微軟上周在一份聲明中說(shuō)，盡管工作時(shí)間大幅縮短，但工作效率（按照每位員工的銷(xiāo)售業(yè)績(jī)來(lái)計(jì)算）同比提高近40%。

In addition to reducing working hours, managers urged staff to cut down on the time they spent in meetings and responding to emails.

除了縮短工作時(shí)間外，經(jīng)理還敦促員工減少開(kāi)會(huì)和回復(fù)電郵的時(shí)間。

They suggested that meetings should last no longer than 30 minutes. Employees were also encouraged to cut down on meetings altogether by using an online messaging app (Microsoft's, of course).

經(jīng)理建議，會(huì)議時(shí)間不要超過(guò)30分鐘，并鼓勵(lì)員工使用（微軟的）在線消息應(yīng)用，減少開(kāi)會(huì)次數(shù)。

The effects were widespread. More than 90% of Microsoft's 2,280 employees in Japan later said they were impacted by the new measures, according to the company.

此舉產(chǎn)生了廣泛的效果。微軟公司稱(chēng)，微軟在日本的2280名員工當(dāng)中，超90%的人表示他們受到了新措施的影響。

By shutting down earlier each week, the company was also able to save on other resources, such as electricity.

通過(guò)每周提早關(guān)門(mén)的舉措，微軟公司還能節(jié)省電力等其他資源。

The initiative is timely. Japan has long grappled with a grim — and in some cases, fatal — culture of overwork. The problem is so severe, the country has even coined a term for it: karoshi means death by overwork from stress-induced illnesses or severe depression.

這一新舉措來(lái)得正是時(shí)候。長(zhǎng)時(shí)間以來(lái)，日本一直在和過(guò)度工作的嚴(yán)峻（有時(shí)甚至是致命的）文化抗?fàn)?。這一問(wèn)題太嚴(yán)重了，日本甚至為之創(chuàng)造了一個(gè)新詞：過(guò)勞死。過(guò)勞死指的是因?yàn)檫^(guò)勞而死于壓力引發(fā)的疾病或嚴(yán)重抑郁。

grapple with: v. 扭打；努力克服

The issue attracted international attention in 2015, when an employee at Japanese advertising giant Dentsu committed suicide on Christmas Day. Tokyo officials later said that the staffer had worked excessive amounts of overtime.

過(guò)勞死問(wèn)題在2015年吸引了全球的關(guān)注，當(dāng)時(shí)日本廣告業(yè)巨頭電通集團(tuán)的一名員工在圣誕節(jié)自殺。東京的官員后來(lái)表示，這名員工加班時(shí)間過(guò)長(zhǎng)。

Two years later, a reporter at a Japanese broadcaster died after working punishing long hours. Her employer said she had clocked in 159 hours of overtime the month before her death.

兩年后，日本某廣播公司的一名記者因超長(zhǎng)加班工作而去世。她的雇主表示，在死前的一個(gè)月，她共加班159個(gè)小時(shí)。

That has led businesses to start searching for solutions. Some companies have begun offering employees more flexibility, and the government has launched a campaign called "Premium Friday," which encourages workers to leave early every last Friday of the month.

這促使企業(yè)開(kāi)始尋找解決方案。一些公司開(kāi)始為員工提供更靈活的工作制，日本政府也推出了一項(xiàng)名為“超值星期五”的活動(dòng)，鼓勵(lì)員工在每月的最后一個(gè)周五提早下班。

Microsoft, for its part, says it will conduct another experiment in Japan later this year. It plans to ask employees to come up with new measures to improve work-life balance and efficiency, and will also ask other companies to join the initiative.

微軟則表示，今年晚些時(shí)候?qū)⒃谌毡鹃_(kāi)展另一個(gè)試驗(yàn)。微軟計(jì)劃請(qǐng)員工提出既能改善工作生活平衡又能提高工作效率的新舉措，并將邀請(qǐng)其他公司加入這一新項(xiàng)目。

英文來(lái)源：CNN

翻譯&編輯：丹妮