Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer. It's also the possible turning point in our country's beginning to reopen the economy.
For the last several months, we've been told by local, state and government officials to stay at home and nonessential businesses must close down operations. You've probably noticed an emerging trend on social media of people seeking to return to some sort of normalcy.
Less-impacted states have reopened and those states hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic are talking about easing up on some of the restrictions. This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said that keeping the economy closed for too long could cause "irreparable damage."
Taking the lead, some well-respected tech CEOs started making the tough decisions. 11Weighing the options, a number of top executives have elected to continue allowing their employees to work from home. As a result, we're now watching the work-from-home trend take off.
Jack Dorsey, the dual CEO of both Twitter and Square, informed his employees at both companies that they can continue working from home "forever." Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, followed with his own announcement that his employees may also work from home. Although, there was a dark underlying warning. People who move out of San Francisco to a lower-cost location may have to take a pay cut commensurate with the salary rate appropriate to their new home.
A recent Gallup poll revealed, "Now that some of these employees may be able to return to their workplace, it appears only a quarter are emotionally ready. Another quarter are reluctant to return specifically because of concerns about contracting COVID-19, while half have a personal preference for working remotely."
Kate Lister, president of Global Workplace Analytics, said, "Seventy-seven percent of the workforce say they want to continue to work from home, at least weekly, when the pandemic is over." Lister estimates, "Twenty-five to thirty percent of the workforce will be working-from-home multiple days a week by the end of 2021."
The consensus seems that the widespread availability and ease of use of technologies to collaborate and stay in constant contact, such as Zoom, Slack, Google Hangouts and other services, enabled people to smoothly adapt to the new work-from-home setup.
Employees appreciated the chance to avoid long commutes, look after their homebound children (as schools closed) and tend to family members who may have been impacted by the virus. AExecutives noticed the potential cost savings, as expensive long-term leases for office space may no longer be needed.
Corporate executives are cognizant that their employees enjoy the chance to work from home, they're able to do their part in helping the environment (as less people drive or take busses to and from the office) and their real estate costs will drop precipitously (as less people will be working in the office).
Shopify, Coinbase, Upwork, Lambda Schools and others have also permitted their people to work from home.
Shopify is a fast-growing, Canadian-based, global company that offers an e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. Shopify has over one million businesses in about 175 countries with total gross merchandise volume exceeding $41.1 billion.
CEO and founder Tobi Lutke tweeted, "As of today, Shopify is a digital by default company. We will keep our offices closed until 2021 so that we can rework them for this new reality. And after that, most will permanently work remotely. Office centricity is over." Lutke added, "Until recently, work happened in the office. We've always had some people remote, but they used the internet as a bridge to the office. This will reverse now. The future of the office is to act as an on-ramp to the same digital workplace that you can access from your #WFH setup."
Critics of the work-from-home trend contend that companies will lose their identity and culture. Employees, particularly younger ones, will miss the lack of social interactions. Part of the camaraderie at work is seeing your co-workers, going out to lunch together or having a drink after work. This will be absent from the new remote environment.
Acknowledging the challenge, Lutke said in a tweet, "We haven't figured this whole thing out. There is a lot of change ahead, but that is what we're good at. 'Thrive on change' is written on our (now digital) walls for a reason."
Hayden Brown, the CEO of Upwork, a global freelancing platform, said in a tweet, "12Building on our 20 years of experience as a remote work company, we are now permanently embracing a 'remote-first' model." Brown continued, "Going forward, working remotely will be the default for everyone, while teams will also be able to come together ― once it's safe ― for intentional collaboration and socialization. The #futureofwork is here."
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced Wednesday that his digital currency exchange, headquartered in San Francisco, is "moving to a remote-first policy in light of COVID-19, meaning most employees will have the option to work from home." Armstrong said he's planning for the future to look different, in light of the coronavirus pandemic. "Over the last two months, I have come to believe that not only is remote work here to stay, but that it represents a huge opportunity and strategic advantage for us."
Armstrong said that employees will still be able to work in an office, but they will now have the option to work remotely or split their time between time working in and out of the office.
This theme has been echoed by Jack Dorsey as well. Understanding that not everyone wants to work remotely and may want to break up their weekly schedule, there will be a home office to go to if they so desire. BThis seems like a reasonable approach to allow for interactions between workers and building social networks and friendships within the organization.
Austen Allred, CEO of Lambda School, an online classroom that uses interactive technology to teach people the tech skills they need to 13launch a new career, said that the school has rolled out a permanent "work from anywhere" policy. Allred tweeted that employees are free to work from home, from an office or from anywhere within the United States.
Google, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Capital One, Zillow, Slack, Amazon, PayPal, Salesforce and other major companies have extended their work-from-home options, according to the largest human resources organization, SHRM, and other sources.
Apple is one of the lone tech giants bucking this trend. The company, according to Business Insider, has requested some employees to return to work. Apple is known for its unique culture and tendency toward secrecy, which may account for the hesitancy to fully 14embrace remote work.
There are some other companies 15taking the middle ground. Aaron Levie, the CEO of Box, a cloud content management and file-sharing service for businesses, wrote in a blog post, "Today, we're excited to share that we're taking further steps to enable a unified digital workplace, with increased work flexibility for Boxers. As a part of that, we're announcing that all Boxers can work from anywhere until the end of the year, providing increased flexibility and peace of mind for our nearly 2,000 employees globally."
Similar to Apple, Levie recognizes, "At the same time, we know the power of having office hubs where in-person communities, mentorship, networking, and creativity can happen... That is why our future is a hybrid one."
This trend is gaining momentum and is likely to become the new norm post Covid-19.
上記の下線部を日本語にしなさい。
- ① Executives = 経営陣、役員（会社の役員達）
- ② potential cost savings = 潜在的なコスト削減 → 経費削減の可能性
- ③ as = 〜なので（理由を表す接続詞）
- ④ expensive long-term leases = 高価な長期賃貸契約
- ⑤ may no longer be needed = もはや必要ないかもしれない
上記の下線部を日本語にしなさい。
- ① seems like = ～のように思われる、～のようだ
- ② reasonable approach = 合理的なアプローチ → 理にかなった方策
- ③ allow for = ～を可能にする、～を考慮に入れる
- ④ interactions between workers = 従業員間の相互作用 → 社員同士の交流
- ⑤ social networks and friendships = 社会的ネットワークと友人関係 → 人間関係や付き合い
- ⑥ within the organization = 組織内で → 社内の
- ① 本文はTwitter、Facebook、Shopify、Coinbase、Upworkなど具体的な企業名を挙げている
- ② これらの企業が在宅勤務を積極的に採用している事例を紹介
- ③ 「革命（revolution）」という言葉が文中の急速な変化を適切に表現
→ コロナ後の世界を席巻する新しいトレンド
❌ 「新しいトレンド」は内容に合うが、具体的な企業紹介が主題なので不十分
→ 市場により多くの柔軟性を提供する企業
❌ 「市場の柔軟性」は本文の主題ではない
→ 在宅勤務は全員に有効
❌ 「全員に有効」とは言っていない。批判的意見も紹介されている
- ① 本文："keeping the economy closed for too long could cause 'irreparable damage'"
- ② irreparable = 取り返しのつかない = permanent（恒久的な）
- ③ for too long = for a long period（長期間）
→ 経済を早急に再開すると永続的な損害を与えるかもしれない
❌ 「早すぎる再開」ではなく「長すぎる閉鎖」が問題と言っている
→ 一部のテック企業のCEOが難しい決断を下し始めた
❌ これはファウチ博士の発言ではなく、筆者の記述
→ 一部の規制が終了すれば経済は傷つく
❌ 規制終了で傷つくとは言っていない
- ① 本文："People who move out of San Francisco to a lower-cost location may have to take a pay cut"
- ② lower-cost location = cheaper areas（より安い地域）
- ③ take a pay cut = reduce their salaries（給料を減らす）
→ そして彼らはそこから永遠に働ける
❌ 「永遠に」はJack Dorseyの発言。Zuckerbergではない
→ そしてサンフランシスコを離れても給料を減らさない
❌ 本文と逆。引っ越せば減給の可能性がある
→ しかし会社の利益に基づいて後で考えを変えるかもしれない
❌ 会社の利益による判断については述べられていない
- ① 本文：職場復帰の準備ができているのは「only a quarter」（4分の1のみ）
- ② 別の4分の1はCOVID-19感染を恐れて消極的
- ③ 半数はリモートワークを個人的に好む
- ④ つまり、4分の1（感染恐怖）+ 半分（リモート希望）= 4分の3が在宅希望
→ 4分の1の労働者はリモートで働けない
❌ 「リモートで働けない」とは書かれていない
→ 4分の1未満の従業員が職場復帰の準備ができている
❌ 「4分の1未満」ではなく「4分の1のみ」
→ 75%以上の労働者が職場復帰を恐れている
❌ 感染を恐れているのは4分の1だけ
- ① 本文："Employees appreciated the chance to avoid long commutes"
- ② "look after their homebound children"
- ③ "tend to family members who may have been impacted by the virus"
- ④ これらすべてを含む(4)が正解
→ シンプルな技術を使って独立して働く
❌ 「独立して働く」ことが理由とは書かれていない
→ 他者との接触を避ける技術を使う
❌ 「他者との接触を避ける」が主な理由ではない
→ 通勤中に子供の世話をする
❌ 「通勤中に」子供の世話はできない。矛盾している
- ① 本文："We will keep our offices closed until 2021"
- ② "And after that, most will permanently work remotely"
- ③ most = ほとんどの従業員、permanently = 恒久的に
→ 2021年以降、インターネットを橋として使えば一部の人がリモートで働ける
❌ 「インターネットを橋として」は以前の状況の説明で、今後の方針ではない
→ 2021年以降、全てのShopifyオフィスを閉鎖したままにする
❌ オフィスは2021年まで閉鎖。その後は改装して使う
→ 2021年以降、ごく少数の従業員のみ在宅勤務を認める
❌ 「少数」ではなく「ほとんど（most）」
- ① 本文："Critics of the work-from-home trend contend that companies will lose their identity and culture"
- ② contend = 主張する（批判的な意見として）
- ③ identity and culture = culture and identity（語順が逆なだけ）
→ 社会的交流の欠如を楽しむ
❌ 社会的交流の欠如を「楽しむ」とは書いていない
→ 従業員が一緒に食事や飲み物を楽しむのを見るかもしれない
❌ 一緒に食事や飲み会をするのは在宅勤務では「できなくなる」こと
→ 退社後のパーティーに集まるよう従業員を促すかもしれない
❌ 同上。在宅勤務では集まることが難しくなる
- ① 本文："teams will also be able to come together — once it's safe — for intentional collaboration and socialization"
- ② once it's safe = if safe（安全になったら）
- ③ collaboration and socialization = socialize and/or collaborate
→ 貴重な経験を積むために20年間
❌ 「20年間」は過去の経験。今後の方針ではない
→ COVID-19パンデミックが終わるまで
❌ パンデミック終了までではなく、恒久的な方針
→ 時々社交や協力が必要だから
❌ 理由の説明ではなく、条件付きで集まれるという方針
- ① 本文："employees will still be able to work in an office"→(3)に該当
- ② "most employees will have the option to work from home"→(2)に該当
- ③ "split their time between time working in and out of the office"→(1)に該当
- ④ (1)(2)(3)すべて本文に記載あり→(4)が正解
- ① 本文最後："That is why our future is a hybrid one"（BoxのCEO）
- ② 多くの企業が在宅とオフィスの両方を認める方針を示している
- ③ 「This trend is gaining momentum and is likely to become the new norm」
→ 従業員の在宅勤務の価値を再検討する
❌ 「再検討」ではなく、既に方向性は決まっている
→ 元の職場方針に戻る
❌ 元の方針に戻るとは書いていない
→ 従来のオフィス勤務を上級幹部に限定する
❌ 上級幹部だけがオフィス勤務とは書いていない
- ① weigh = （比喩的に）比較検討する、熟考する
- ② options = 選択肢 = alternatives
- ③ 「選択肢を天秤にかける」→慎重に検討する
→ 選択をしなければならないときに特別な重さを感じる
❌ 「重さを感じる」は文字通りの意味で、比喩的意味ではない
→ それらの困難さの可能性について考える
❌ 「困難さ」については述べていない
→ 人の選択について熟考する
❌ 「人の選択」ではなく「選択肢」の検討
- ① build on = ～を基礎にして築く、～に基づいて発展させる
- ② 文脈：「20年の経験に基づいて」新しい方針を採用
- ③ basis for further progress = さらなる進歩の基礎
→ 何かについて判断を下す
❌ 「判断を下す」は build on の意味ではない
→ 誰かが始めたプロジェクトを無視する
❌ 「無視する」は逆の意味
→ 未来に向かって進む
❌ 「未来に進む」は漠然としすぎ
- ① launch a new career = 新しいキャリアを始める
- ② launch = 打ち上げる、開始する、始める
- ③ 文脈から「キャリアを始める」が適切
- ① 文脈："hesitancy to fully embrace remote work"
- ② リモートワークを完全に「受け入れる」ことへの躊躇
- ③ embrace = 抱擁する → 比喩的に「受け入れる、採用する」
- ① take the middle ground = 中間的立場を取る
- ② 文脈：完全な在宅勤務でも完全なオフィス勤務でもない
- ③ BoxのCEOが「ハイブリッド」の未来を述べている
→ ビジネス向けファイル共有サービスを避ける
❌ ファイル共有サービスとは関係ない
→ 両端からの利点をどちらも受け入れない
❌ 「両方の利点を受け入れない」は逆
→ センターフィールドで守備位置につく
❌ 野球の守備位置の話ではない