職場成功的關鍵並不僅僅是擁有高科技技能

For all the jobs that machines can now do — whether performing surgery, driving cars or serving food — they still lack one distinctly human trait. They have no social skills.

儘管機器現在可以從事各種工作，如手術、駕車、上菜，但無疑它們還缺少一個獨特的人類特徵，那就是社交技巧。

Yet skills like cooperation, empathy and flexibility have become increasingly vital in modern-day work. Occupations that require strong social skills have grown much more than others since 1980, according to new research. And the only occupations that have shown consistent wage growth since 2000 require both cognitive and social skills.

然而，合作、同理心和靈活性等能力，在現代工作環境裏已變得越來越重要。新的研究顯示，1980年以來，需要很強社交能力的職位大幅增加，遠遠超出了其他職位。而且自2000年來，僅有的一些工資有持續增長的職業種類，都要求良好的認知和社交能力。

The findings help explain a mystery that has been puzzling economists: the slowdown in the growth even of high-skill jobs. The jobs hit hardest seem to be those that don't require social skills, throughout the wage spectrum.

這些研究結果有助於讓經濟學家揭開一個一直讓他們很困惑的謎題：爲什麼儘管是高技能職位，也會有工資增長緩慢的情況。從各個工資水平來看，工資最難增長的職業都是不需要社交能力的。

"As I'm speaking with you, I need to think about what's going on in your head — ‘Is she bored? Am I giving her too much information?' — and I have to adjust my behavior all the time," said David Deming, associate professor of education and economics at Harvard University and author of a new study. "That's a really hard thing to program, so it's growing as a share of jobs."

"我們對話時，我要想着你頭腦裏是怎麼想的──‘她是覺得無聊嗎？我說的信息太多了嗎？'──所以我還要隨時調整自己的行爲，"哈佛大學教育和經濟學副教授、一項新研究的作者戴維·戴明說。"這真的很難通過編程辦到，所以社交技巧在工作中越來越重要了。"

Some economists and technologists see this trend as cause for optimism: Even as technology eliminates some jobs, it generally creates others. Yet to prepare students for the change in the way we work, the skills that schools teach may need to change. Social skills are rarely emphasized in traditional education.

一些經濟學家和科技專家以樂觀的態度看待這個趨勢：儘管科技會淘汰某些職位，但一般還會創造其他的。爲了讓學生對現在的工作情況做好準備，學校所教的技能也應該改變。傳統教育模式很少會注重社交技巧。

Despite the emphasis on teaching computer science, learning math and science is not enough. Jobs that involve those skills but not social skills, like those held by bookkeepers, bank tellers and certain types of engineers, have performed worst in employment growth in recent years for all but the highest-paying jobs. In the tech industry, for instance, it's the jobs that combine technical and interpersonal skills that are booming, like being a computer scientist working on a group project.

儘管如今強調計算機科學的教育，但只學數學和科學是不夠的。涉及這些技能但不涉及社交技巧的工作，像會計、銀行櫃員和某些類別的工程師，近年來的就業增長是最低的，這些領域中薪酬最高的崗位除外。舉例來說，在科技產業裏，技術和社交技能相結合的工作崗位數量激增，如在小組項目裏工作的計算機科學家。

"If it's just technical skill, there's a reasonable chance it can be automated, and if it's just being empathetic or flexible, there's an infinite supply of people, so a job won't be well paid," said David Autor, an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "It's the interaction of both that is virtuous."

"如果只是技術性技能，就有理由認爲它可能會被自動化。而如果只要求有同理心和靈活性，社會也有無限的人力供應，所以這種工作的工資也不會高，"麻省理工學院經濟學家戴維·奧托爾說。"只有結合兩者的職業才最好。"

Someday, nearly all work could be automated, leaving humans to revel in never-ending leisure time. But in the meantime, this research argues, students should be prepared for the actual world of work. Maybe high schools and colleges should evaluate students the way preschools do — whether they "play well with others."

總有一天，差不多所有工作都可以自動化完成，人類將享有無窮無盡的閒暇時間。但是目前，這份研究的論點是，學生應該爲現實的職場做好準備。或許，高中和大學應該用幼兒園的標準來評估學生——那就是他們能否和別人"玩到一起"。