外刊阅读 Day 7

【导读】

昨天我们说了：“零工经济”虽然没有占领全世界，但它剥夺了劳动者的合法权利，加剧了工作的不稳定性，那么“零工经济”是否真的没有一点好处呢？

【正文】

The gig economy: workers on tap （Part 2） 零工经济：随取随用的劳动力（下）

However, the fact that it is smaller than you might think is not the gig economy's strongest defence. That rests on（依靠；在于） 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（遛狗） in the park or a vital document copy-edited within hours.

然而，零工经济的规模比你可能想象的还要小，但这一点还不是对它最强有力的辩护。真正强有力的辩解在于零工经济如何给整个经济体带来效益。它对消费者的好处显而易见。只需在手机屏幕上轻轻一划或是点一点鼠标，几乎所有人都能让“狗狗管家”帮你去公园遛狗，抑或是雇人在几小时内将一份重要的文件编辑修改妥当。

Crucially, benefits also accrue to（使……收益） workers. The algorithms（算法） that underpin（支持） 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（充值） income or smoothing out（解决） earnings if other sources of work dry up. They can also break open closed（保守的） industries. Research shows that the arrival of Uber in American cities leads on average to a 50% surge（激增） in the number of self-employed taxi-drivers.

关键在于，零工经济还使得劳动者持续受益。支持零工经济平台的算法提高了零工们和工作之间的“配对”几率，使得闲置的时间更短了。与传统员工相比，临时工面临更低的工资待遇的证据并不充分。很多零工表示他们珍惜与支薪员工比较而言拥有的额外自主选择权。如果其他工作资源枯竭，零工平台是一个有效的赚外快和补贴家用的方式。除此之外，零工平台还可以强行打入封闭的行业。研究显示，优步的到来使得美国城市中自雇的出租车司机总数平均激增了50%。

But the gig economy is not perfect. Platforms argue they are no more than（中立的） neutral market places in which workers and customers meet. By this logic, workers ought to count as（看作） 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（踢出） the platform. Platforms have alegitimate（正当的） interest in maintaining their quality of service. But it cannot be right that some firms specify how workers must submit to（屈服于） the duties of acting like employees even as they reject the responsibilities of acting like employers.

然而零工经济并不完美。零工平台认为它们只不过是劳动者和消费者碰头的中立市场。按照这样的逻辑，劳动者应该视自己为自我雇佣。然而一些平台要求劳动者达到的标准又是另一回事了。送餐从业者经常被要求穿制服；在打车软件上的司机们需要保持较高的评级，否则可能会被平台扫地出门。平台为自身的利益而保证其服务质量，这是合乎情理的。然而一些公司拒绝履行雇主责任，反倒明确规定员工需要履行的义务，这就不对了。

————— 文章来源 / 经济学人

【生词】

swipe /swaɪp/ n. 划屏，滑动屏幕

accrue to 累积增长 e.g. Interest will accrue to your account as long as the account is active.

underpin /ˌʌndərˈpɪn/ v. 支持；构成...的基础

patchy /ˈpætʃi/ adj. 不完全的；片面的e.g. My knowledge is patchy. The case is difficult to deal with since the evidence is patchy.

top up 充值

smooth out 解决；消除

dry up 枯竭 e.g. Their sources of finance are drying up.

surge /sɜːrdʒ/ n. 激增（尤指短暂现象）

self-employed adj. 自我雇佣的

ride-hailing 打车服务

kick off 赶走 e.g. If the actor fails the audition, he'll be kicked offthe production.

legitimate /lɪˈdʒɪtɪmət/ adj. 正当的；合乎逻辑的e.g. legitimate excuses legitimate claims legitimate fears

submit to 服从；屈服 e.g. The minority should submit to the majority.