這場全球最大的遠程辦公試驗，已經持續四周了

全民宅家抗疫，學生宅在家學習。

Telecommute（家庭辦公：通過電話、電子郵件等與辦公室、顧客等進行聯繫）這個詞最早出現在1972年的《經濟學人》雜誌上。

它組合了來自於希臘語的前綴tele，表示“遠處”，和動詞commute，意思是“上下班往返”。另一個近義詞是telework.

遠程辦公是什麼

Telecommuting (also known as working from home, or e-commuting) is a work arrangement in which the employee works outside the office, often working from home or a location close to home (including coffee shops, libraries, and various other venues).
遠程辦公（也稱爲在家辦公或電子通勤）是指員工在辦公室外工作的一種工作安排，通常在家或離家近的地方（包括咖啡店、圖書館和各種其他場所）工作。

話先說明白，有些工作必然還是不能在家做的。

Tens of millions of jobs at all points of the income and skill spectrum are of course not suited to remote work.
有數以千萬計的各種收入各種技能的職位都不適合遠程工作。

►Doctors, dentists, and countless other healthcare workers of the world will always need to be hands-on with patients, just as：
醫生、牙醫、以及世界上無數的其他各種醫療工作者總是需要臨牀作業；諸如：

►construction workers need to be on building sites
建築工得在工地上

►scientists need to be in labs
科學家得在實驗室裏

►wait staff need to be in restaurants
服務生得在餐館裏

►judges need to be in court
法官要在法院裏

►hospitality employees need to be in hotels
酒店業從業者得出現在酒店裏

……

爲什麼要遠程辦公

遠程辦公的存在必然有它的好處與適宜的人羣。

More freedom
更自由

Telecommuting allows a worker greater freedom regarding her or his work hours and work location. It gives the employee more flexibility to balance work and personal obligations.
遠程辦公使得工人在工作時間和工作地點兩方面有着更大的自由。員工可以更靈活地平衡工作和個人事務。

Productivity
效率

Often, working from home can make you more productive, because you do not have the distractions of office space. Of course, this is not necessarily true if you can be easily distracted by home appliances such as washing machines that make considerable noise, or if you are someone that actually needs supervision from your boss to concentrate on your work. Productivity sometimes entails a division of your residence where a space away from comfortable couches, beds, TVs should be designated.
在家工作通常可以讓你更有效率，因爲沒有辦公空間的干擾。當然，如果你很容易被諸如發出噪音的洗衣機之類的家用電器分心，或者你是一個真正需要老闆監督才能專心工作的人，那麼你在家工作的效率不一定會高。想要在家高效工作有時需要劃分你的住所——在其中劃出一個遠離舒適的沙發、牀、電視的空間（用來工作）。

斯坦福大學經濟系教授Nicholas A. Bloom帶領團隊2015年在The Quarterly Journal of Economics上發表了一項針對中國某大型網上旅遊平臺員工在家辦公效率的研究。

Call center employees who volunteered to WFH were randomly assigned either to work from home or in the office for nine months.
自願在家辦公的呼叫中心員工會被隨機安排在家或在辦公室工作，爲期9個月。

他們發現：

Home working led to a 13 percent performance increase, of which 9 percent was from working more minutes per shift (fewer breaks and sick days) and 4 percent from more calls per minute (attributed to a quieter and more convenient working environment).
在家遠程辦公產生了13%的績效提升，其中9%來自每班工作更多分鐘（更少的工作間休息、更少請病假），4%來自每分鐘更多的通話（歸因於更安靜和更方便的工作環境）。

Home workers also reported improved work satisfaction, and their attrition rate halved, but their promotion rate conditional on performance fell.
在家工作的員工的工作滿意度也有所提高，他們的自然減員率降低了一半，但他們以業績爲標準的晉升率卻下降了。

Employees' welfare
福利

Allowing workers to telecommute often makes them more productive, which benefits the company. Telecommuters are also likely to be happier in their jobs and are therefore more likely to stay with the company. Telecommuting even saves companies money in office expenses (such as rent and stationery).
允許員工遠程辦公通常會提高他們的工作效率，這對公司有利。遠程工作者在工作中也可能更快樂，因此更可能留在公司。遠程辦公甚至爲公司節省了辦公開支（如租金與文具開銷）。

Many industries offer telecommuting jobs. Some of these industries include sales, customer service, and marketing. Many jobs in technology (including computer and software programming) can be done via telecommuting.
許多行業都有遠程辦公工作。例如銷售、客戶服務和市場營銷。許多技術工作（包括計算機和軟件編程）都可以通過遠程辦公來完成。

Some medical professionals, including health claim analysts and even some radiologists, have begun to work from home.
一些醫學專業人士，包括健康索賠分析師，甚至一些放射科醫生，已經開始在家工作了。

但遠程辦公並非沒有侷限性，不然也不會互聯網發展這麼久了，走在遠程辦公前列的美國也只有8百萬人在線上工作，約佔1億5千萬勞動人口的5%（取自2017年美國人口調查局數據）。

New requirements on venues
場地要求

You have to be extremely self-motivated, or else you may get distracted easily. You also need to find a productive place to do work, such as a home office or coffee shop.
你得非常有自我驅動力，要不然你就很容易分心。在家得找出一個能讓你高效工作的區域，比方說家庭辦公室或者咖啡店。

Mental health issues
心理問題

Some people also find working from home to be a bit isolating, because you are not around your coworkers. Those who enjoy teamwork may lose their opportunity to bond with colleagues by teleconferencing alone.
有些人會覺得沒有同事在身邊，在家辦公很孤獨。喜歡團隊協作的人只是搞遠程會議的話，會覺得失去了和同事建立互信關係的契機。

如果你覺得自己的事情其實真的絕大部分情況下不用去辦公室做，被老闆盯着不說，還要忍受通勤的痛苦，那你就得好好想想怎麼跟老闆聊遠程辦公的事。

You should come up with a strategic plan if you want to ask your employer if you can telecommute.
要是想去問老闆你是否可以遠程辦公，你得先有個全局性的計劃。

First, decide what kind of schedule you have in mind (do you want to work from home full time? Come into the office part-time?).
首先，腦子裏得知道你的工作日程安排是什麼樣的。（你要在家全職工作呢還是偶爾兼職性地去下辦公室？）

Then, be sure you can explain how your telecommuting would benefit the company (Would it save the company money? Would you be able to increase productivity?).
其次，確保你能向老闆解釋清楚你遠程辦公能給公司帶來什麼好處。（會給公司省錢嗎？你的工作效率會提高嗎？）

2020年初新冠肺炎疫情暴發以來，許多農曆春節之後需要返工的公司，考慮到公共衛生風險，都紛紛鼓勵員工轉戰到了線上。

MarketWatch在其2月11號的報道中採訪了20位中國白領員工。

We surveyed 20 Chinese white-collar employees, and found that most had either been asked to work from home or had the entire week of work canceled (most with pay).
我們調查了20名中國白領員工，發現大多數人要麼被要求在家工作，要麼被取消了一週的工作（大多數是帶薪的）。

另外作者還提到，中國南方的冬天，給在家辦公的人造成了很大的困難。

平常在辦公室吹空調是理所當然的，在家整日整夜地開空調，心裏就不知什麼滋味兒了。

Haoran and Sisi stay cooped up in their bedroom, with a small portable heater buzzing, while the rest of their apartment remains chilly. Their predicament is not unusual in the west and south of China. And it doesn’t make for the coziest work experience in the winter months.
Haoran和Sisi被迫呆在臥室裏，一個小型的便攜式取暖器嗡嗡作響，公寓裏其他房間仍然很冷。他們的困境在中國西部和南部並不罕見。而且，這麼做不可能讓冬天的工作體驗變得舒適。

最近，很多人抱怨在家辦公時間變長，有時比在辦公室還長。

這到底是因爲人們覺得環境舒服從而自願加班，還是被迫超長待機在線聽差遣？

我們不知道答案。

至少疫情結束時，你就能在去辦公室和窩在家幹活中，真正做一把選擇了。

Notes

venue /ˈvenjuː/ n
活動場地（如音樂廳、體育比賽場館、會場）

spectrum /ˈspektrəm/ n
光譜；範圍，各層次

hospitality /ˌhɑːspɪˈtæləti/ n
（款待客人、顧客等的）食物、飲料、服務；款待；好客；殷勤

attrition /əˈtrɪʃn/ n
自然減員

stationery /ˈsteɪʃənri/ n
文具

chilly /ˈtʃɪli/ adj
陰冷的；寒冷的