Despite all the entrepreneurial advancement of recent years, in which people balance both work and life; better yet, integrate the two; mental and physical health is still on the decline. Advocates of work-life integration say it is now harder than ever to draw a clear line in the sand between work and life.
儘管近年來所有的创业进步，人們平衡了工作和生活；更好的是，兩者融合在一起；身心健康仍在下降。 工作与生活融合的倡导者表示，现在比以往任何时候都更难在工作和生活之间划清界限。
So what say the East? Are Asian countries experiencing a similar kind of work-related health decline? Are they too seeking ways in which to integrate the making of happiness and money? Thoughts therefore go out to fortune 500 companies such as Chinese mobile phone giant, the never-far-from-the-headlines Huawei, known for their tough competitive “Wolf Culture”.
那么东方怎么说呢？ 亚洲国家是否正在经历类似的与工作相关的健康状况下降？ 他们是否也在寻求将幸福和金钱相结合的方法？ 因此，向中国手机巨头华为等财富500强公司表示了思念，华为以其激烈的竞争“狼文化”而闻名。
To get a better understanding of where Chinese worker bees are at on the balancing scale, The Nanjinger spoke with two Huawei employees and surveyed local professionals from a variety of other companies and professions. We wanted to know if Wolf Culture is one of the driving forces behind big company success in China and how it effects the health and happiness Chinese employees.
为了更好地了解中国工蜂在平衡尺度上的位置，《南京人》采访了两名华为员工，并调查了来自其他各种公司和职业的当地专业人士。 我们想知道狼文化是否是中国大公司成功的驱动力之一，以及它如何影响中国员工的健康和幸福。
Ex-Huawei HQ staff member, Zhou Yi (pseudonym), worked with the company for 13 years before he was laid off. Prior to working with Huawei, Zhou worked as an engineer at multiple state and privately owned technology companies in Nanjing. At the beginning of his Huawei career, training was just as intensive as it is now; “I remember that the training was not relaxed. For instance I had to take part in many exams which included a salesman training camp, professional knowledge training, even etiquette training and an internship drill”, he said.
前华为总部员工周毅（假名）在被解雇前在公司工作了13年。 在华为工作之前，周曾在南京的多家国有和私营科技公司担任工程师。 在他华为职业生涯之初，培训和现在一样密集；“我记得培训并不轻松。 例如，我不得不参加许多考试，包括推销员训练营、专业知识培训，甚至礼仪培训和实习演习。”他说。
Wolf Culture encourages staff to compete with one another on a “kill or be killed” basis. “Those people who are fit for this kind of culture will get promoted. In the majority of situations, you are not welcome back if you leave Huawei. A label of ‘loser’ would be put onto those people who had been ‘killed’”, commented Zhou. “If I had problems, I would approach my friends; I didn’t trust my coworkers very much.”
狼文化鼓励员工在“杀或被杀”的基础上相互竞争。 “那些适合这种文化的人会得到晋升。 在大多数情况下，如果你离开华为，就不欢迎你回来。 周评论说：“那些被“被杀”的人将被贴上“失败者”的标签。” “如果我有问题，我会接近我的朋友；我不太信任我的同事。”
According to an article by Sup China detailing the differences between the inner workings of Lenovo and Huawei, staff have been asked to sign “striver agreements” that waive employees’ rights to claim annual leave or overtime pay. “I voluntarily signed a striver agreement when I was with Huawei”, Zhou told The Nanjinger. “And when I quit, I didn’t receive any compensation. … If you want to work with Huawei, you must adapt to this working culture asap if you want to make any money”, he exclaimed.
根据Sup China的一篇文章，详细介绍了联想和华为内部运作之间的差异，员工被要求签署“Striver协议”，放弃员工申请年假或加班费的权利。 周告诉《南京人》：“我在华为工作时自愿签署了一份奋斗协议。” “当我辞职时，我没有收到任何补偿。 ……如果你想和华为合作，如果你想赚钱，你必须尽快适应这种工作文化，”他感叹道。
Chinese chairmen have a reputation for setting what the West has criticised as “unrealistic targets”. This puts immense pressure on all levels of staff. In China, if these targets are met, people are rewarded with handsome bonuses and recognition for hard work, but to what extent does this environment impact the individual? “I had no choice. Generally, I spent much more time in work rather than in life”, admits Zhou.
中国主席以设定西方批评的“不切实际的目标”而闻名。 这给各级员工带来了巨大的压力。 在中国，如果这些目标达到，人们将获得丰厚的奖金和努力工作的认可，但这种环境在多大程度上影响了个人？ “我别无选择。 一般来说，我花在工作上的时间比花在生活上的时间多得多，”周承认道。
The Chinese workforce appears to be at a stage in its development where it is simply happy to have a job and to be earning big money; happiness is secondary to money. From those who earn and play big to those who grind hard for a comfortable urban life, to those who really struggle to make ends meet and resent their bosses, many are suspicious that the Chinese working force is scarily headed towards the model exemplified by their Japanese neighbours.
中国劳动力似乎正处于一个发展阶段，只是很高兴有一份工作并能赚大钱；幸福是次要的。 从那些挣钱和大赚大钱的人，到那些为了舒适的城市生活而努力工作的人，再到那些真正为维持生计而挣扎并怨恨老板的人，许多人怀疑中国劳动力正在向着日本邻居所代表的模式前进。
From the 1950s, the Japanese worked themselves toward being world’s largest economy. Instilling along the way company cultures of unbreakable loyalty and fierce competition, leaving the individual out of the equation, it was the company as a whole that became most important. Under this kind of environment who would want to be the first to leave the office or the last to arrive? In a survey into work-life balance, Japanese employees even admitted to feeling guilty for taking paid holidays; on average leaving 10 days of paid holiday untaken per year.
從20世紀50年代開始，日本人努力成為世界上最大的經濟體。 一路灌輸牢不可破的忠誠和激烈競爭的公司文化，將個人排除在等式之外，整個公司才是最重要的。 在这种环境下，谁会想成为第一个离开办公室的人还是最后一个到达的人？ 在一项关于工作与生活平衡的调查中，日本员工甚至承认对休带薪假期感到内疚；平均每年有10天的带薪假期没有休。
Back in China, Zhou continued, “As a Chinese employee at Huawei, I often worked 9 to 9, Monday to Friday. But when I was traveling [for work] sometimes I had to burn the midnight oil, so to speak. … I didn’t have any annual leave and if an employee would use too many sick days, that person would get investigated by human resources. If you performed well you would be allotted some stock shares, and be given a pay raise or a promotion. Awards for your outstanding achievements are also given. If you made a mistake at work, you would get a bad performance assessment. A bad appraisal could affect you for the next 3 years.”
回到中国，周继续说：“作为华为的一名中国员工，我经常从周一到周五从9点到9点工作。 但是当我[工作]旅行时，有时我不得不燃烧午夜油，可以说。 …我没有任何年假，如果员工请了太多病假，这个人将受到人力资源部的调查。 如果您表现良好，您将获得一些股票，并获得加薪或晋升。 您的杰出成就也会获得奖项。 如果你在工作中犯了错误，你会得到糟糕的绩效评估。 糟糕的评估可能会影响你未来3年。”
With regard to the personal lives of those at Huawei, Zhou, who is now divorced, comments, “I only spent time with my family during the national holidays and I never traveled, or did anything recreational for that matter. … If someone were to have told me at the time I worked for Huawei that I was ‘married to my job’ I would have agreed with them.”
关于华为人员的个人生活，现已离婚的周评论道：“我只在国定假日和家人在一起，我从来没有旅行过，也没有做过任何娱乐活动。 …如果我在華為工作的時候有人告訴我，我’和我的工作結婚了’，我會同意他們的觀點。」
Zhou’s loyalty to the company stopped dead when he was laid off due to what he says was a conspiracy against him. “There is a black list that is used to lay off the older employees. Once you get on it, you have no chance to transfer to other positions. This is a policy that can’t be said frankly”, Zhou told The Nanjinger. “My English was not good enough [for overseas work]. And even though I had just renewed my 4 year contract with the company, I had become a scapegoat.”
当周被解雇时，他对公司的忠诚停止了，因为他说这是针对他的阴谋。 “有一个黑名单，用来解雇年长员工。 一旦你进入它，你就没有机会转到其他职位。 这是一项不能坦率地说的政策，”周告诉《南京人》。 “我的英语不够好[对于海外工作]。 尽管我刚刚与该公司续签了4年合同，但我还是成了替罪羊。”
If this leaves readers thinking Huawei to be more like Hellwei; a place no person would consider working, The Nanjinger sought out a more current employee. “I trust my colleagues. … It’s hard to work together if you don’t!” Huawei employee, data engineer, Cheng Yin (pseudonym), laughed when I spoke of my impressions of Hellwei.
如果这让读者认为华为更像Hellwei；一个没有人会考虑工作的地方，那么《南京人》就寻找了更现任的员工。 “我信任我的同事。 …如果你不这样做，就很难一起工作！” 华为员工、数据工程师Cheng Yin（假名）在我谈到我对Hellwei的印象时笑了。
Cheng is outsourced by a third company, and admits that in addition to taking courses for months at a time and preparing for presentations and tests, new recruits must go through many rounds of interviews, including a psychological test.
Cheng被第三家公司外包，并承认，除了一次上几个月的课程并准备演讲和测试外，新员工还必须经历多轮面试，包括心理测试。
After speaking with Cheng, I got the feeling that changes have been made within the company which better supports the individual, rather than the company as a whole. “Huawei does have a Wolf Culture but I think it’s just a way to describe the spirit of the company”, she said.
在与Cheng交谈后，我感觉到公司内部发生了改变，这更好地支持了个人，而不是整个公司。 她说：“华为确实有狼文化，但我认为这只是描述公司精神的一种方式。”
Cheng told The Nanjinger that she has never experienced any exclusion from other members of staff, nor has she been made to succumb to “unrealistic” target setting by bosses. “I believe the company wants to keep us hungry for knowledge. This includes both in our own field and outside. Worries and doubts are always welcome and we have a public platform for debate and any ideas we have for the company.”
Cheng告诉《南京人》，她从未经历过其他员工的任何排斥，也从未屈服于老板设定的“不切实际”目标。 “我相信公司想让我们对知识的渴望。 这包括我们自己的领域和外部。 总是欢迎担忧和疑虑，我们有一个公开的平台进行辩论，以及我们对公司的任何想法。”
“It is very sensitive to always ask for days off”, Cheng admits. “People choose to work under intense pressure for a period of time and accumulate some fortune for their future development, [I think this] is reasonable. I don’t think people would agree to work like this always. After all, the money is not yours until you spend it.”
Cheng承认：“总是要求休假是非常敏感的。” “人们选择在一段时间的巨大压力下工作，并为未来的发展积累一些财富，[我认为这]是合理的。 我认为人们不会同意总是这样工作。 毕竟，钱在你花掉之前不是你的。”
The Chinese have a saying, “过劳死” (death by overwork). While the country’s working culture is far less rigid and more relaxed in comparison to Japan, the worry comes as they overtake America as the world’s largest economy; are they headed down the same road?
中国人有句谚语，“过劳死”（过度劳死）。 虽然与日本相比，该国的工作文化要不那么僵化，更轻松，但当他们超越美国成为世界上最大的经济体时，令人担忧；他们是否走上了同样的道路？
Cheng went on, “For me, life is short and life is too much to give up. I believe this [lack of work-life balance] is true though for some employees especially facing so much life pressure to buy a house in China and make a good living. Many companies have no ability to provide handsome payrolls for their dedicated workers, but we (Huawei) do. For top experts in certain fields we have no upper limits in terms of bonus. Every month we have meetings about employees’ performance and we have little bonuses for everyone who makes progress.”
Cheng继续说：“对我来说，生命是短暂的，生活是无法放弃的。 我相信[缺乏工作与生活的平衡]是真实的，但对于一些员工来说，特别是面临如此大的生活压力，要在中国买房并过上好日子。 许多公司没有能力为其敬业的员工提供丰厚的工资单，但我们（华为）可以。 对于某些领域的顶级专家，我们在奖金方面没有上限。 我们每个月都会举行关于员工绩效的会议，每个取得进步的人都会获得小额奖金。”
I needed convincing that Huawei really does consider the human side of their employees. “I’m definitely not married to my job! I regularly see my friends and family and have plenty of time for outdoor or extra activities. I often cook; I love cooking because it tastes much better than most of the restaurants. It’s much more healthy and cheaper than eating outside. I go to the gym three times a week and attend a yoga class”, she told me.
我需要说服华为真的考虑了员工的人性方面。 “我绝对不和我的工作结婚！ 我经常见朋友和家人，并且有足够的时间进行户外活动或额外活动。 我经常做饭；我喜欢做饭，因为它的味道比大多数餐厅好很多。 这比在外面吃饭更健康、更便宜。 我每周去三次健身房，上瑜伽课，」她告诉我。
We spoke about the differences between Western working experiences, compared with those of Asia, discussing the differences in labour laws, rights, needs and wants of workers and employees. “I believe western companies have a much more relaxing working environment, in terms of relationships with management. This is a cultural difference”, said Cheng.
我们讨论了西方工作经验与亚洲工作经验之间的差异，讨论了劳动法、权利、工人和雇员的需求和愿望的差异。 “我认为，就与管理层的关系而言，西方公司的工作环境要轻松得多。 這是一種文化差异，」程说。
What of work-life balance for other Nanjing locals? The Nanjinger turned to the Internet to conduct a survey of employees from a variety of professions and corporations.
对于其他南京当地人来说，工作与生活的平衡如何？ 《南京人》转向互联网对来自各种职业和公司的员工进行调查。
Judging from the answers received, something needs to be done to further satisfy work-life balance. I am told “Westerners are lazy” and “the Chinese people have no choice but to work hard”, but now I know that what the younger Chinese generation feel on the inside is something very different.
从收到的答案来看，需要做一些事情来进一步满足工作与生活的平衡。 我被告知「西方人很懶」和「中國人別無選擇，只能努力工作」，但現在我知道，中國年輕一代內心的感受非常不同。
Over half the people The Nanjinger surveyed said their job satisfaction could be better and that they receive no emotional support for private matters. 42 percent of people admitted that their boss will scream and shout at them for making mistakes and 31 percent have been asked to sign striver agreements. Over half are likely to quit after just 2 years and over 70 percent say they are expected to socialise with other colleagues and their boss after work. Most worrying of all, 10 percent say their working life has begun to affect their mental health.
超过一半的人接受南京人表示，他们的工作满意度可以更好，他们在私人事务上得不到情感支持。42%的人承认，他们的老板会因为犯错而对他们大喊大叫，31%的人被要求签署奋斗协议。 超过一半的人可能在仅仅2年后就辞职，超过70%的人表示，他们预计下班后会与其他同事和老板进行社交。 最令人担忧的是，10%的人表示他们的工作生活已经开始影响他们的心理健康。
The majority of Chinese are likely to agree that if you want to have a good life, then you need to work very hard. I have been told that they are not well off enough, at the moment. The idea of a work-life balance is understood, even sought after to some degree or another, but to the majority it is scoffed at as just another idealistic Western desire for pleasure over pain.
大多数中国人可能会同意，如果你想过上好日子，那么你需要非常努力地工作。 有人告诉我，他们目前还不够富裕。 工作与生活平衡的想法是被理解的，甚至在某种程度上寻求，但对大多数人来说，它只是另一种理想主义的西方对快乐而不是痛苦的渴望。
