(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
JUDY WOODRUFF: As the American economy recovers from the worst impacts of the pandemic, questions remain about the labor force and the larger problems that plagued the economy prior to the start of COVID-19. In the final installment of Paul Solman's Work Shift series, he looks at what we have learned and what's at stake for workers and employers.
PAUL SOLMAN: All around us, jobs going wanting. But it couldn't just have been pandemic unemployment benefits and low wages keeping workers in dry dock, because a host of high-paying jobs have gone unfilled for a very long time.
VINNIE SPOSARI, Owner, Mr. Rooter Plumbing of Seattle: I have got plumbers that work for me today that make $200,000-plus a year.
PAUL SOLMAN: And yet Seattle plumbing contractor Vinnie Sposari has been unable to find workers for years.
VINNIE SPOSARI: I could hire six, eight experienced plumbers right now.
PAUL SOLMAN: So why the labor shortage?
SARAH SCHNABEL, Electrical Apprentice, LaMorte Electric: You're doing manual labor. Some people tend to look down on that.
PAUL SOLMAN: Sarah Schnabel, a Cornell grad, became an electrician.
SARAH SCHNABEL: For people my age, it's definitely more glamorous to think of the tech job, where you're in a really nice cushy office building.
PAUL SOLMAN: High schoolers in Southwest Louisiana had an added explanation.
JORDAN HOFFMAN, Student: That's not an option that's often presented to us. Like, this is not for you.
JACOB BREWSTER, Student: It's like, go to college, go to college. There's barely anybody saying, go to trade school.
PAUL SOLMAN: Right, said Mike Rowe, famous for his cable TV series "Dirty Jobs."
MIKE ROWE, "Dirty Jobs": The push for one form of education, in my view, really was the beginning of a long list of stigmas and stereotypes and myths and misperceptions that to this day dissuade millions of kids from pursuing a legitimate opportunity to make six figures in the trades.
PAUL SOLMAN: A final reason the trades are underpopulated, up until recently, some two-thirds of Americans were excluded, women, people of color, or both.
ADRIENNE BENNETT, President and CEO, Benkari: Dead rats in my lunch box, like the women before me. They wanted me to leave.
PAUL SOLMAN: Plumber Adrienne Bennett, who now runs her own firm.
ADRIENNE BENNETT: I was in a porta john one time. They picked me up with a crane. And you're bouncing around in there, you got this sewage. It's splashing all over you. You're afraid.
PAUL SOLMAN: Electrician Tonya Hicks also has her own company.
TONYA HICKS, President and CEO, Power Solutions International: I had a foreman to tell me that all Black women do is get fat, have a bunch of kids and collect welfare.
PAUL SOLMAN: But it's not just the trades that can't fill jobs today. Tons of low-wage workers seem to be fed up with their pay and work and just aren't taking it anymore. And maybe they shouldn't, says economist Byron Auguste.
BYRON AUGUSTE, President and Co-Founder, Opportunity@Work: During the pandemic, we saw tens of millions of essential workers do amazing things, things that required skills, that required adaptability, that required problem-solving, that required teamwork, that required communication under very difficult conditions.
PAUL SOLMAN: And given data collected by his firm, Opportunity@Work, they could be earning a lot more.
BYRON AUGUSTE: Thirty million today have the skills, based on the work they're doing, for jobs that pay at least 50 percent more than the jobs they're in.
PAUL SOLMAN: So, how to get those tens of millions of low-wage workers better opportunities? Government job training programs are one route, like Back to Work Rhode Island, where then-Governor Gina Raimondo used federal CARES Act money to fund training programs in areas where employers couldn't fill jobs.
GINA RAIMONDO, U.S. Secretary of Commerce: We will tailor these training initiatives so that, when you hire someone, you have confidence they're going to be able to do the job.
PAUL SOLMAN: Some 4,000 Rhode Islanders have already graduated into new higher-paying jobs. But, in general, says Professor Doug Besharov, government isn't the ideal overseer.
DOUGLAS BESHAROV, University of Maryland: It doesn't learn fast enough. It fights the last war. And change is happening more rapidly as we speak. And it will continue to happen. And I think government will be left behind.
ARIELLA SPITZER, Mathematica Policy Research: There's a huge body of research on government job training. And, overall, I would say the results are unfortunately disappointing.
PAUL SOLMAN: Economist Ariella Spitzer studies job training.
ARIELLA SPITZER: The good ones, we're seeing at most 5 to 10 percent earnings increase.
重点解析
1.labor force 劳动力
The creation of a labor force that was accustomed to working in factories did not occur easily.
培养一批习惯在工厂工作的劳动力并不容易。
2.plague 困扰
Financial problems are plaguing the company.
财政问题使这家公司焦头烂额。
3.at stake 处于危险中，在紧要关头
The izzat of the household was at stake.
家庭的声望岌岌可危。
4.a host of 许多
Obesity is associated with a host of health problems.
肥胖症往往与许多健康问题有关。
5.look down on 看不起
We should respect others and never look down on them with their jobs, or disabilities.
我们应该尊重他人，永远不要因为他们的工作或身体残疾而看不起他们。
参考译文
朱迪·伍德乐夫：随着美国经济逐渐从严重的疫情影响中复苏，劳动力问题和一个在新冠开始前就困扰着美国经济的更大的问题依然存在。在保罗·索尔曼的《轮班工作》系列的最后一篇文章中，他探讨了我们所获的经验教训以及工人和雇主面临的风险。
保罗·索尔曼：在我们周围，到处都是工作。但仅仅靠疫情的失业救济金和低工资是不可能让人们待在干船坞里的，因为很多高薪职位已经闲置很久了。
温尼·斯波萨里，西雅图鲁特水管公司老板：现在我有管道工为我工作，他们一年能挣20多万美元。
保罗·索尔曼：然而，西雅图管道承包商Vinnie Sposari多年来一直招不到工人。
VINNIE SPOSARI：我现在能雇到六到八个有经验的水管工。
保罗·索尔曼：所以，为什么招不到人？
萨拉·施纳贝尔，LaMorte Electric学徒：你做的是体力活儿，人们看不上体力活儿。
保罗·索尔曼：从康奈尔大学的毕业生莎拉·施纳贝尔成为了一名电工。
萨拉·施纳贝尔：对于我这个年纪的人来说，科技方面的工作肯定更吸引人，因为可以在非常舒适的办公楼里工作。
保罗·索尔曼：路易斯安那州西南部的高中生们对此有其它的解释。
乔丹·霍夫曼，学生：我们很少接触到这一选择，就像，它不是为你准备的。
雅各布·布鲁斯特，学生：就比如说，人们都说上大学、上大学。但很少有人说，去上职业学校吧。
保罗·索尔曼：是的。因电视连续剧《肮脏的工作》而闻名的迈克·罗说。
迈克·罗，《肮脏的工作》：在我看来，对一种教育形式的推动，实际上是一系列耻辱、刻板印象、传言和误解的开始。直到今天，这些阻碍了数以百万计的孩子追求合法的机会，利用职业技能赚到六位数的钱。
保罗·索尔曼：技工人丁稀少的最后一个原因是，直到今天，有约三分之二的美国人被这一行业排除在外，其中包括妇女、有色人种或者两者都有。
埃德里安娜·班尼特，Benkari公司总裁兼首席执行官：我的饭盒里有死老鼠，就像我面前的那些女人一样，他们想让我走。
保罗·索尔曼：水管工阿德里安娜·贝内特，她现在经营着自己的公司。
埃德里安娜·班纳特：有一次我在厕所里，他们用起重机把我吊起来。然后你就在厕所里上来下去。里面还有污水，溅得你满身都是。你害怕了。
保罗·索尔曼：电工Tonya Hicks也有自己的公司。
汤娅·希克斯, Power Solutions International总裁兼首席执行官：有个工头告诉我，黑人女性唯一能做的就是变胖，生一堆孩子，然后等着领国家福利。
保罗·索尔曼：但如今缺的不仅仅是技工。大量低薪工人似乎厌倦了他们的工资和工作，不再接受。经济学家拜伦·奥古斯特说，或许他们不应该这样。
拜伦·奥古斯特，Opportunity@Work总裁和联合创始人：在疫情期间，我们看到有数千万重要岗位工作者做出了令人赞叹的事情，这些事情需要技能，需要适应能力，需要解决问题，需要团队合作，需要在非常困难的条件下进行沟通。
保罗·索尔曼：根据他的公司Opportunity@Work收集的数据，技工可能赚得更多。
拜伦·奥古斯特：从所从事的工作来看，如今有3000万人拥有技能，他们的工资至少比他们所从事的工作要高出50%。
保罗·索尔曼：那么，如何为这几千万的低薪工人提供更好的就业机会呢？政府工作培训项目是一条途径，比如罗德岛州的“重返工作岗位”项目，当时的州长吉娜·雷蒙多利用联邦《关爱法案》的资金，为无法填补职位空缺的行业的雇主提供培训项目资金。
吉娜·雷蒙多，美国商务部长：我们将对这些培训计划进行调整，这样，当你雇用某人时，你就能保证他们能够胜任这项工作。
保罗·索尔曼：大约有4000名罗德岛居民已经毕业，进入了新的高薪工作岗位。但是，道格·贝沙洛夫教授说，总的来说，政府并不是理想的监督者。
道格·贝沙洛夫，马里兰大学：政府跟不上变化的节奏，它在打最后一场仗。就在我们说话的时候，变化正在以更快的速度发生，而且这种情况还会继续，我觉得政府会落在后面。
阿丽拉·史皮泽，Mathematica政策研究公司：有大量关于政府工作培训的研究。总的来说，我想说的是，结果令人失望。
保罗·索尔曼：经济学家阿丽拉·史皮泽负责研究职业培训。
阿丽拉·史皮泽：好的职业培训，我们能看到最多5%到10%的工资增长幅度。
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