A Japanese firm is planning to use a drone to force employees out of their offices by playing music at them if they stay to work evening overtime.
一家日本公司計劃用無人機對著晚上加班的員工播放音樂,迫使員工離開辦公室。
The drone will fly through offices after hours playing Auld Lang Syne, which is commonly used to announce that stores are closing.
無人機在下班時間后會飛過一間又一間辦公室,播放《友誼地久天長》。這首樂曲通常在商店打烊的時候播放。
Japan has for years been trying to curb excessive overtime and the health issues and even deaths it can cause.
多年來,日本一直試圖遏制過度加班以及由此引發(fā)的健康問題,甚至過勞死。
Experts were unimpressed, one branding it a "silly" idea.
專家們對該公司的這一舉措反應冷淡,一名專家還認為這個主意“很蠢”。
According to Japanese media, office security and cleaning firm Taisei will develop the device with drone maker Blue Innovation and telecommunications company NTT East.
據日本媒體報道,主營辦公室安保和保潔的大成公司將同無人機制造商“藍色創(chuàng)新”和電信公司NTT East聯手研發(fā)這款無人機。
The camera-equipped drone will take flights through the office space playing the famous Scottish tune.
這款配備了攝像頭的無人機將在辦公區(qū)飛行,同時播放這首著名的蘇格蘭樂曲。
"You can't really work when you think 'it's coming over any time now' and hear Auld Lang Synealong with the buzz," Norihiro Kato, a director at Taisei, told news agency AFP.
大成公司的一位名叫Norihiro Kato的主管告訴法新社說:“當你想到無人機隨時可能過來并將聽到伴隨著嗡嗡聲的《友誼地久天長》,你就干不下去了。”
Taisei plans to start the drone service in April 2018 as a trial within their own company and later in the year offer it to others.
大成公司計劃從2018年4月起啟動無人機服務,先在自己的公司試運行,然后明年晚些時候開始對外提供服務。
這種無人機真的能有效地杜絕加班嗎?來看看專家怎么說。
"Will this help? The short answer is: no," Seijiro Takeshita, professor of management and information at the University of Shizuoka told the BBC.
日本靜岡縣立大學管理和信息學教授Seijiro Takeshita告訴BBC說:“這會起作用嗎?簡短的回答是:不會。”
"It's a pretty silly thing and companies are doing this just because they have to be seen to be doing something on the problem."
“這種做法挺蠢的,這些公司這么做是為了讓人們看到他們?yōu)榱私鉀Q問題已經有所行動。”
The issue of excessive overtime is deeply rooted in the work culture and should be tackled from a more fundamental basis, he argues.
這位教授指出,過度加班的深層次原因在于日本的職場文化,應該從根源解決問題。
"Creating awareness is of course very important - but this is almost a hoax in my opinion."
“讓大家意識到這個問題當然很重要——但在我看來這就是個騙局。”
Scott North, professor of sociology at Osaka University, said: "Even if this robotic harassment gets workers to leave the office, they will take work home with them if they have unfinished assignments."
大阪大學的社會學教授斯科特•諾斯說:“就算這個擾民的無人機迫使員工離開了辦公室,如果任務沒有完成,他們還是得帶回家繼續(xù)做。”
He added: "To cut overtime hours, it is necessary to reduce workloads, either by reducing the time-wasting tasks and tournament-style competitions for which Japanese workplaces are notorious, or by hiring more workers."
他還說:“要減少加班時間,就必須減少工作量,要么減少浪費時間的任務和日本企業(yè)間臭名昭著的榮譽之爭,要么雇傭更多人手。”
Japan has long been struggling to break its decades-old work culture where it is frowned upon to leave before your colleagues or boss.
長時間以來,日本一直努力要打破延續(xù)了數十年的職場文化,在這種文化下,先于同事或領導下班是讓人不悅的行為。
The problem of long hours has even led to the coining of a new word: karoshi, or dying from overwork.
工作時間過長甚至催生了一個新詞:過勞死。
The habit, especially among people who are new at a company, is seen as the cause of many health problems leading to strokes, heart attacks and suicides.
普遍認為,公司員工尤其是新人過度加班的習慣導致了許多健康問題,進而引發(fā)中風、心臟病和自殺。
In October, advertising firm Dentsu was fined for violating labour laws after a young worker killed herself. She was later found to have worked 159 hours of overtime in one month.
十月份,廣告公司電通集團的一名年輕員工自殺后,該公司因違反勞動法被罰款。后來發(fā)現,這名女員工在一個月內加班時間長達159個小時。
Earlier this year, the government introduced Premium Fridays, encouraging companies to let their employees leave at 15:00 on the last Friday of each month.
今年早些時候,日本政府出臺了超值星期五政策,鼓勵各公司讓員工在每個月的最后一個星期五下午3點就下班。
But the plan has failed to have an impact so far, with many employees saying the last Friday of the month is one of their busiest days.
但是到目前為止,這個計劃收效甚微,許多員工表示,每個月的最后一個星期五是他們最忙碌的一天。
【背景介紹】
據《讀賣新聞》報道,日本全職員工平均每年工作2000小時,比德國人、法國人長400小時。20歲到50歲的日本勞動者中,42.6%的人平均每月無償加班約16.7小時;85%的全職員工加班,20%的人每周工作超過60小時;大約一半的人加班不會獲得額外工資。
日本是出名的“加班大國”,超勤文化傳統(tǒng)悠久。對不少日本男性來說,“朝6到晚11”的工作模式相當普遍。清早從家乘地鐵到公司,上班并“例行”加班后,晚上繼續(xù)與同事或客戶去酒吧飲酒交際到深夜,凌晨3點爛醉回家,早上太陽還沒升起就又返回公司。“這種生活模式早已成為日本的象征,就像日本壽司和日本漫畫一樣。”英國《金融時報》評論道。
絕大多數工人在談到為什么要加班時,會說“有太多必須要維持的工作”或“這是我的工作,我希望盡最大努力做好”。每天義務加班,在日語中有個詞“社畜”(公司奴隸),許多員工因此積郁成疾,猝死、自殺屢見不鮮。
1995年,日本精工、全日空等12家公司在內的總經理接連去世,年齡大多在四五十歲左右。2000年5月,首相小淵惠三去世,醫(yī)學專家認為他“積勞成疾,過勞猝死”。精英過勞死震撼了日本社會。
日本在2016年發(fā)布了首部《過勞死等防止對策白皮書》。白皮書稱,“過勞死認定標準”為每月加班80小時以上。
統(tǒng)計顯示,日本每年認定過勞死的人數均在300人左右(不包括公務員過勞死),2000年以前每年認定人數都在兩位數內,過勞自殺的年認定人數近5年也都在百人以上,認定比例已上升至40%左右。