紐時賞析／美就業市場火熱 雇主祭新招搶人

From Appetizers to Tuition, Incentives to Job Seekers Grow

美就業市場火熱 雇主祭新招搶人

College subsidies for children and spouses. Free rooms for summer hotel employees and a set of knives for aspiring culinary workers. And appetizers on the house for anyone willing to sit down for a restaurant job interview.

子女和配偶念大學享學費補助。飯店員工夏季免費住客房，有志成功的餐飲業人員贈送刀具組。還有，願意坐下來接受餐廳面試的，開胃菜免費享用。

Determined to lure new employees and retain existing ones in a suddenly hot job market, employers are turning to new incentives that go beyond traditional monetary rewards. In some cases, the offerings include the potential to reshape career paths, like college scholarships and guaranteed admission to management training programs.

就業市場忽然變火熱，決心吸引新員工並留住現有員工的雇主，紛紛訴諸超越傳統金錢報酬的新招。有時，鼓勵措施有改變職涯的潛力，如大學獎學金和接受管理培訓的資格保證。

The sudden reopening of vast swaths of the U.S. economy has left companies scrambling for workers as summer approaches, especially in the service sector. What’s more, in many cases the inducements are on top of increases in hourly pay.

美國經濟突然大規模重啟，使企業在夏天臨近之際爭搶員工，尤其服務業。有趣的是，企業往往在調漲時薪之外，加碼祭出這些誘因。

The result is a cornucopia of new benefits as human resources officers and employees alike rethink what makes for a compelling compensation package. And in a pathbreaking move, some businesses are extending educational benefits to families of employees.

結果是，在人力資源幹部和受雇者都在重新思考怎樣的薪酬待遇才能夠打動人心時，不計其數的新福利應運而生。一些企業讓員工家屬也享有教育補助，深具開創性。

The labor market was relatively tight before the pandemic stuck in early 2020, but the rise of noncash offerings is a new wrinkle. Many large companies find themselves pitted against other giants in the search for workers with similar types of skills and experience and want to stand out, especially in the rush to staff back up after the pandemic.

在新冠疫情爆發前的2020年初，勞動市場也相當緊俏，不過，愈來愈多企業提供現金以外誘因卻是新現象。許多大企業互相爭搶技能和經驗類似的勞工，而且想脫穎而出，尤其是在疫情過後急於補人時。

“We knew we had to do something radically different to make Waste Management attractive when you have other companies looking for the same type of worker,” said Tamla Oates-Forney, chief people officer at Waste Management. “There is such a war for talent that compensation isn’t a differentiator.”

美國「廢棄物管理公司」人力資源長塔姆拉．歐茨-佛尼說：「當其他公司也在尋找同類員工時，我們知道我們必須做些完全不同的事，才能令人心動。搶人大戰非常激烈，光靠薪酬待遇無法勝出。」

“You can never have too many drivers,” she said. “When you think about Amazon and Walmart, we’re going after the same population.”

她說：「駕駛員永不嫌多。想想亞馬遜和沃爾瑪，我們都在搶同一批人。」

The company will pay for employees to earn bachelor’s and associate degrees, as well as certificates in areas like data analytics and business management. In a significant expansion, Waste Management will begin offering these scholarships to spouses and children of workers this year.

這家公司出錢幫助員工拿到學士和副學士學位，以及數據分析、企業管理等領域的合格證書。廢棄物管理公司今年起大舉擴張福利，讓員工配偶和子女也能享有這些獎學金。

“We can do something that really changes people’s lives,” said Jim Fish, Waste Management’s chief executive. “For someone with kids in high school, this is a big deal.”

廢棄物管理公司執行長費許說：「我們可以做些真正改變別人生命的事。對那些小孩正在讀高中的人來說，這個福利很重要。」

The competition for new hires is especially intense in the leisure and hospitality industry, which has surged back to life after shutting down almost completely last spring.

搶人大戰在餐旅休閒業特別激烈，這行業今年春天幾乎完全停業，如今已經快速回春。

文／Nelson D. Schwartz 譯／李京倫