职场精力枯竭威胁“千年一代”

This year's graduating seniors may face higher risk for job burnout than their parents' generation, say business and career experts.

企业专家和职场专家们称，今年将毕业的大四学生可能比自己父母那辈人要面临更大的精力枯竭风险。

One of those grads, 22-year-old Ruth Igielnik, kicked off her career at a Washington political polling firm just weeks after donning her cap and gown at the University of Maryland.

Ruth Igielnik22岁，毕业于马里兰州州立大学。毕业典礼后没几周，她就开始在华盛顿一家政治投票公司工作。

"I'm going to be available as much as they need me," she says, acknowledging the long hours she'll be working ahead of November elections.

她说：“需要的话我都有空”。她承认在11月总统选举前自己将要长时间工作。

Igielnik should be familiar with stretching her boundaries. She admits classes were an "afterthought" during the past year because she toiled¹ from two to five hours every school night as student overseer of 300 campus groups.

Igielnik善于扩展活动范围。作为一名负责300个校园社团的监管员，她去年每晚都要工作2-5个小时，她承认上课成了“次要考虑内容”。

"I'm certainly willing to stretch the bounds of my daily schedule," she says.

她说：“我当然乐意扩展活动范围。”

But new grads in entry-level career jobs should resist early urges to sacrifice personal time in exchange for a faster climb to the top, warns career consultant² Alexandra Levit.

但是职业顾问Alexandra Levit警告说：处于行业入门阶段工作中的新毕业大学生应该克制为了迅速地攀升而牺牲个人时间的冲动。

"You have to go out of your way to protect your time, but you have to go about it more subtly," she says. "If you sacrifice too much of your personal life at the start, you risk having a stressful, unbalanced life that's permanent."

她说：“人们要格外努力去保护自己的时间，当然也得讲究方法。如果在工作一开始就牺牲了太多的个人时间，那你将有可能长期处于压力大、不平衡的状态中。”

Levit specializes in so-called millennials, the generation born from about 1980 to 1995. She agrees with other experts who fear millennials are at risk for early job burnout.

Levit专门研究在1980到1995年间出生的所谓“千年一代”。她也同意其他专家们的看法，认为“千年一代”有可能在工作中过早地面临精力枯竭。

In the next two to four years, retiring manager baby boomers will trigger a wave of new openings for high-responsibility jobs, says Levit. A lot of those jobs will be filled by less-experienced workers -- many of them millennials.

Levit说“婴儿潮”一代的管理者们将在今后2-4年中退休，这会引发一场“重大责任工作岗位”的空缺热潮。许多这些岗位将由经验较少的工作者——其中许多“千年”一代来填补。

"Their sense of entitlement and their over-ambition are going to create a lot of stress for them," Levit says. "They're going to be given the responsibility they crave³ -- because there's no one else to take it."

Levit说：“这一代‘理所应得’的态度、过高的抱负将给他们带来很多的压力。他们会被给予他们所期待的责任，因为没有其他人来承担。”

These young managers will have trouble getting their arms around their job responsibilities, says Levit. Their drive to succeed -- typical among millennials -- will be exacerbated⁴ by a world where technology makes work possible virtually anywhere, 24-7.

Levit称年轻的管理者们难于顾及到所有的工作责任。技术的发展让工作“无处不在”、“无刻不在”，这将更加剧“千年一代”普遍拥有的成功渴求。

Experts say this generational shift also will challenge graduates who are not so ambitious and career-driven. It will force many of them who put free time above their careers to take on more work.

专家们称一代人的更替也给没多少抱负心和事业心的人带来挑战。许多把休闲摆在事业之上的人将被迫做更多工作。

Keys to protecting work-life balance include defining what's important outside of work -- such as family, friends, volunteering, hobbies -- and committing to it, according to Levit.

Levit认为保持工作和生活的平衡，关键在于找到工作之外的重要东西——例如家庭、朋友、志愿活动、嗜好，并且为之付诸行动。

Bosses and employees each should have a clear understanding of what's expected of employees, and how far beyond the call of duty workers are expected to go, she says.

老板和员工双方都要清楚对员工的期待是什么，弄清楚员工为职责外的工作可以付出多少。

Although millennials often value work-life balance, they also tend to limit their loyalty⁵ to employers, says author and consultant Lindsey Pollak. "They don't feel that the work force is going to be loyal to them. So why should they feel loyal to the work force?"

作家、顾问Lindsey Pollak说，虽然“千年一代”往往看重工作和生活的平衡，可他们不会对雇主太忠诚。“他们认为既然公司不对自己忠诚，为什么自己应该对公司忠诚呢？”

"I'm realistic," says Igielnik. "I realize that these days the 40-year career that our parents experienced doesn't really exist anymore, and it's pretty common to jump around. So I wouldn't be shocked if I didn't spend my entire life at one company."

Igielnik说：“我是一个现实的人。像父辈那样在一个公司呆40年，现在是不可能了。四处跳槽已司空见惯。如果没有一辈子呆在一家公司，我可不会震惊。”

A friend of Igielnik's, Merav Fine, is taking a few weeks off before joining the work force as a legal assistant at a small Washington-area law firm. Fine jokes that -- after a heavy class schedule and an intense internship⁶ for a Washington congressman⁷ -- school has left her burned out before she's even begun her career.

Igielnik的一位朋友Merav Fine正在休几周的假。之后，她将在华盛顿地区一家律师事务所担任法律助理。Fine开玩笑称，繁重的课程和为华盛顿国某会议员做实习生后，还未开始工作，学校就已经让她疲惫不堪。

The New York City native worries that her career might steal time she should spend with friends and family.

纽约人Fine担心她的职业也许会“偷去”陪伴朋友、家人的时间。

Professional services firm Ernst & Young predicts that, by 2010, millennials will equal 60 percent of its workforce⁸. The company plans to hire 3,300 new full-timers this year. Rival firm Deloitte plans to hire about 4,000 new full-timers this year.

职业服务公司Ernst & Young预计到2010年前“千年一代”将占据劳动力人数的60%。这家公司计划今年招收3300名全职人员。对手公司Deloitte计划今年招收大约4000名全职人员。

"There is a pending⁹ talent shortage upon us," says Deloitte's Diane Borhani, who's unapologetic about the hard work and long hours put in by the corporation's workforce.

来自Deloitte的Diane Borhani说：“我们不久会面临人才短缺。” 对于该公司内辛苦、长时间的工作，Diane Borhani直认不讳。

Millennials aren't afraid of working hard, she says. "They just want to have freedom to do other things."

她说，“千年一代”并不害怕工作辛苦。“他们只希望还有自由做别的事。”

However, compared with previous generations, many millennials are "backlashing against the idea that your work is your life," says Alexandra Robbins, author of "The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids." They're "intent on finding jobs that are meaningful both personally and to the community and the environment."

《大成功者：受驱动孩子的秘密生活》一书作者Alexandra Robbins说，和以往几代人不同，许多“千年一代”不赞同“工作就是生活”的观点。他们“一心想找到对个人、社区和环境都有意义的工作。”

Deloitte is offering its new hires a chance to make a difference, with programs like Impact Day, when employees devote a day to local community improvement projects. Ernst & Young also promotes environmental issues among its workers.

Deloitte为新员工提供了带来改变的机会。如在“影响日”这类计划中，员工能花一天时间来改善当地社区项目。Ernst & Young也鼓励员工探讨环保问题。

Both firms have made efforts to introduce flexibility¹⁰ into their work culture. Deloitte's Mass Career Customization program offers workers options to accelerate or slow their careers to suit their personal needs. Ernst & Young offers Summer Hours, where some teams may choose to work more hours earlier in the week in exchange for half-days on Fridays.

这两家公司都曾努力地增加企业文化的灵活性。为了适应不同人的需求，Deloitte的“大规模职业定制”计划向员工提供多个选择，让他们加速或放慢职业发展速度。Ernst & Young提供“夏令时”，有些小组能选择平时多工作一些时间，以换取周五的半天休假。

"The things that this generation is asking for -- flexibility, balance, opportunities -- are all things that previous generations wanted," says Dan Black, top campus recruiter at Ernst & Young. "But they feel much more emboldened¹¹ to ask for these things. They know they're going to be a bigger part of the work force."

Ernst & Young公司首席校园招聘人Dan Black说：“这一代人所要求的灵活、平衡和机会都是过去几代人曾希望的。不过这一代人更有勇气去争取它们，因为他们知道自己将会成为劳动队伍中更大的一部分。”