It is sometimes cited as proof of Silicon Valley’s “no-holds” war for talent, but America’s technology heartland has evolved a working culture that is simultaneously relaxed and permissive.

硅谷已发展出一种轻松宽容的职场文化，它有时被援引为这个美国科技中心 “不择手段”争抢人才的证据。

Famously, Google offers engineers the freedom to pursue their own projects for up to 20 per cent of their working time. Meanwhile, Netflix allows its staff the unheard-of-in-America privilege of unlimited vacations. The video streaming firm also hit the news earlier this month when it offered new parents fully-paid leave for a year after birth or adoption.

其中著名的是，谷歌(Google)允许工程师利用他们至多20%的工作时间来自由从事自己的项目。与此同时，Netflix给予其员工在美国闻所未闻的无限休假的特权。这家视频流媒体公司还在本月初上了新闻头条——它允许新晋为父母的员工在生产或是领养孩子后享受一年的全薪休假。

It is an approach that seems designed to appeal to a particular type of individualist cum self-starter. Or, as the Harvard Business Review succinctly put it: “Only fully formed adults need apply.”

这种方式似乎旨在吸引特殊类型的个人以及积极主动型人才。或者，正如《哈佛商业评论》(Harvard Business Review)简单说的那样：“只有完全定型的成年人才应该适用。”

But dispensing vacation perks along with the air hockey tables is not the only way to run a tech company. A few hundred miles up the west coast in Seattle, a very different style prevails. Where Silicon Valley celebrates the laid-back culture of its pioneering 1960s and 1970s, Amazon has a flavour more evocative of ancient Sparta.

但给出特殊的休假福利并提供空气曲棍球桌，并非是运营科技公司的唯一方式。在美国西海岸位于硅谷以北数百英里的西雅图（亚马逊(Amazon)总部所在地），一种截然不同的风格盛行。硅谷标榜自己开创性的上世纪六七十年代留下的轻松文化，但亚马逊的风格更令人想起古代的斯巴达。

Criticisms of its approach are not new and were aired in Brad Stone’s 2013 book, The Everything Store. But they have now been given a fresh outing in a lengthy expose in the New York Times, citing scores of interviews with present and past employees.

对亚马逊管理方式的批评并非首次出现，布拉德斯通(Brad Stone)在2013年的著作《一网打尽》(The Everything Store)中就提到过。但现在《纽约时报》(New York Times)在一篇长篇报道中援引对该公司现任及前任员工的数十次采访，对其管理风格进行了全新的揭露。

People who do well are said to be those who thrive in an adversarial environment with constant friction. The online retailer’s founder, Jeff Bezos, apparently abhors what he calls “social cohesion”. He prefers the idea of his staff duking it out, using data and the power of argument. And according to the New York Times, employees are encouraged to report each other using a management tool designed to give anonymised feedback both to the individual criticised and their boss.

干得好的员工据说是那些能在冲突不断的对抗性环境中平步青云的人。这家在线零售商的创始人杰夫贝索斯(Jeff Bezos)似乎憎恶自己口中的“社会凝聚力”。他喜欢让员工以数据和辩论为武器彼此争斗。根据《纽约时报》的报道，亚马逊员工被鼓励使用一个旨在向被批评员工及其老板发送匿名反馈的管理工具互打报告。

Mr Bezos has given a measured response. While declaring the article “doesn’t describe the Amazon I know or the caring Amazonians I work with”, he also urges workers to come forward and contact him directly if they are aware of such practices. Given the gravity of some of the allegations, it leaves an equivocal impression; one he could have dispelled by promising to examine his own company records.

贝索斯做出了慎重的回应。在宣称该文“所描述的并非我了解的亚马逊，亦非每天与我一起工作的有爱心的亚马逊人”的同时，他还敦促员工如果知道此类做法，就可以提出来，并直接与他联系。鉴于其中一些指控非常严重，这种回应给人一种模棱两可的感觉；他本可以承诺检查自己公司的记录来消除这种感觉。

There is, of course, no excuse for unfair treatment. But when it comes to Amazon’s overall style, it is less clear what Mr Bezos has to justify. Amazon’s employees are not slaves. Many of its managers and engineers are highly employable elsewhere. Nor has its approach damaged the retailer. Now valued at $250bn, the 21-year-old company recently overtook Walmart as the world’s biggest general retailing group. It does not obviously lack for computing or management talent. Indeed it is constructing an enormous campus in Seattle where it plans to bring tens of thousands of them in one place.

当然，任何借口都不能用来进行不公平的待遇。但就亚马逊的整体风格而言，看不出有什么是贝索斯必须证明合理的。亚马逊的员工并非奴隶。它的许多经理和工程师在其他地方很容易找到工作。这种管理风格也没有对这家零售商造成伤害。现在这家成立21年之久的公司的市值为2500亿美元，最近超过沃尔玛(Walmart)，成为全球最大的综合类零售集团。它看起来并不急缺计算或管理人才。实际上，该公司正在西雅图修建一座庞大的园区，计划将数万人才汇聚在一起。

People often see the tech world as in some way unique. But there is no reason that it requires a management approach any more homogenised than industries that flourished before the world wide web. Not every investment bank has the work ethic of Goldman Sachs, nor management consultancy the culture of a McKinsey. Employees do not just work for a company because its bosses smile. They do so because they believe in its business model, or think they will derive fulfilment from sharing in its success.

人们通常认为科技世界在某种程度上是独特的，但没有理由要求该行业拥有比在万维网出现之前蓬勃发展的行业更为同质化的管理方式。并非每家投行都有高盛(Goldman Sachs)的职业准则，并非每家管理咨询公司都有麦肯锡(McKinsey)的文化。雇员不会仅仅因为老板微笑就为一家公司工作。他们为公司工作是因为他们相信其业务模式，或者认为他们将从分享该公司的成功中获得成就感。

Mr Bezos is at the hard-nosed end of US entrepreneurship. But until there is further evidence that his approach is deterring vital staff from joining Amazon, or driving customers to competitors, he is unlikely to change — and there seems little reason why he should.

贝索斯属于美国创业家中的强硬派。但在有进一步的证据表明，他的做法吓阻了关键员工加入亚马逊，或者促使客户转向竞争对手之前，他不太可能做出改变——他似乎也没有应该改变的理由。