Airbnb曾像個大家庭，直到危機到來

Airbnb Was Like a Family, Until the Layoffs Started

Airbnb曾經(jīng)像個大家庭，直到裁員來臨

By Erin Griffith

On May 5, after almost two months of working alone in his San Francisco apartment, Brian Chesky, Airbnb's chief executive, cried into his video camera.

5月5日，Airbnb的CEO布萊恩?切斯基面對鏡頭哭了出來。兩個月來他一直在自己的舊金山公寓獨自工作。

Looking into his webcam, he read from a script that he had written to tell his employees that the coronavirus had crushed the travel industry, including their home rental start-up.

他提前寫好講稿，透過攝像頭告知員工，新冠病毒摧毀了旅游業(yè)，也摧毀了這家經(jīng)營共享住房的初創(chuàng)公司。

Within a few hours, 1,900 employees — a quarter of Airbnb's work force — were told they were out.

短短幾個小時里，1900個員工得知自己被解雇了，這占據(jù)了Airbnb總員工數(shù)量的25%。

Airbnb was the ideal example of a commitment culture company. Mr. Chesky spoke frequently of trustworthiness, authenticity and a desire to build a business that valued principles and people over the short-termism of Wall Street.

Airbnb的企業(yè)文化講究全情投入，它是這類公司的典范。切斯基經(jīng)常談起信任與坦誠，并且渴望打造一家重視原則、以人為本的企業(yè)，而非華爾街那些只看短期利益的企業(yè)。

In contrast to Wall Street's focus on quarterly financial reports and daily stock moves, Mr. Chesky aspired to a capitalism that had an "infinite time horizon" and was good for society.

華爾街關(guān)注每季度的財報和每日股票走勢，與之形成鮮明對比的是，切斯基向往一種“不設(shè)投資期限”并造福社會的資本主義制度。

To blunt the shock of the May 5 layoffs, Airbnb's severance packages included three months of salary and a year of health benefits, which was more generous than many other start-ups doing layoffs.

為了減輕5月5日裁員帶來的沖擊，Airbnb的遣散費包含了三個月工資和一年的健康保險，這比其他許多正在裁員的初創(chuàng)企業(yè)都要慷慨。

Some workers asked why there weren't furloughs or broader pay cuts instead of layoffs. Mr. Chesky said the situation was too uncertain for furloughs and pay cuts, calling those temporary measures. Layoffs were mapped to the future business strategy, he added.

一些員工疑惑，為何要采取裁員而不是停薪留職或更大規(guī)模的降薪措施。切斯基說，目前形勢不明朗，不適合采取停薪留職或降薪這種臨時措施。他補充到，裁員是未來商業(yè)戰(zhàn)略中的重要一環(huán)。

生詞好句

1.layoff/lay-off

英 [?le??f] 美 [?le?ɑ?f]

n. 裁員

拓展:

lay off 裁員

多用于口語中的近義詞：

fire

UK /fa??/ US /fa?r/

vt. 開除

You are fired.

你被開除了。

sack

UK /s?k/ US /s?k/

vt. 開除，裁員

2.into

英 [??ntu?] 美 [??ntu?]

prep. 朝著……方向

拓展:

注意：

介詞在很多情況下可以傳遞意思，甚至傳遞感情。

舉例：

① He is not that into you.

他沒那么喜歡你。

② I’m on it.

我正處理著呢。

③ We can arrive on time if the lights are with us.

我們能準(zhǔn)時到達的，如果一路綠燈的話。

④ The wind is with us today.

今天我們順風(fēng)順?biāo)?/p>

⑤ Are you with me or are you against me?

你是支持我還是反對我？

3.webcam

英 [?webk?m] 美 [?webk?m]

n. 網(wǎng)絡(luò)攝像機（webcamera）

4.script

英 [skr?pt] 美 [skr?pt]

n. 稿子；vt. 寫

拓展:

來自于拉丁語，意為“寫”

同源詞：

describe vt. 描述

prescribe vt. 開藥方

circumscribe vt. 劃定界限

transcribe vt. 抄錄

It was perfectly scripted and beautifully acted.

寫作精妙，表演絕倫。

5.crush

英 [kr??] 美 [kr??]

vt. 壓碎；摧毀（damage, destroy, devastate）n. 迷戀的對象

拓展:

詞根含義表示用牙齒將東西咬碎。

I was crushed.

我被擊倒了/我非常震驚。

形近詞：

crash

UK /kr??/ US /kr??/

vt. 碰撞，墜毀 n. （交通工具）碰撞，墜毀

為craze和dash的合用，帶有速度感

car/plane crash 車禍/飛機墜毀

crash course 速成課程

I have a crush on her.

我對她一見鐘情。

I’ve got a crash on you.

我跟你撞了個滿懷。

6.home rental

共享住房（house sharing）

拓展:

car rental company 租車公司

rental

UK /?rent?l/ US /?rent?l/

n. 出租

7.start-up

創(chuàng)業(yè)公司

拓展:

start-up owner 創(chuàng)業(yè)者

entrepreneur

UK /??ntr?pr??n??/ US /?ɑ?ntr?pr??n??r/

n. 創(chuàng)業(yè)者

8.out

英 [a?t] 美 [a?t]

adv. 被解雇（fired）

9.commitment

英 [k??m?tm?nt] 美 [k??m?tm?nt]

n. 全身心投入

拓展:

詞根含義：join, entrust

I have a commitment to the company.

我對這家公司全情投入。

If not now, when! If not me, who!

此時此刻，非我莫屬。

10.trustworthiness

英 [?tr?st?w??ein?s] 美 [?tr?st?w??rein?s]

n. 可信賴（值得被信任）

11.authenticity

英 [???θen?t?s?ti] 美 [?ɑ?θen?t?s?ti]

n. 坦誠，真誠

拓展:

authentic adj. 真的

This is authentic.

這是真的。

authentic leather 真皮

12.value A over B

更看重A而不是B

拓展:

《原則》（Principles）——雷·戴里奧（Ray Dalio）

13.short-termism

短期價值主義

拓展:

客戶第一，員工第二，股東（利益）第三。——阿里巴巴價值觀

14.in contrast to

與……相反

15.aspire

英 [??spa??] 美 [??spa?r]

vi. 渴望（wish）

拓展:

aspire to sth. 渴望某物

aspire to do sth. 渴望做某事

16.time horizon

投資期限

17.blunt

英 [bl?nt] 美 [bl?nt]

vt. 減輕（soften）；adj. 鈍的（less sharp）

拓展:

to blunt the shock of… 為減輕……的沖擊

18.severance packages/pay

離職補償/遣散費用

拓展:

severance

UK /?sev?r?ns/ US /?sev?r?ns/

n. 解雇費；割斷，切斷

19.do layoffs

裁員

20.furlough

英 [?f??l??] 美 [?f??rlo?]

n. 無薪休假