每日英語跟讀 Ep.K233: The Winners of Remote Work

Who wins and who loses when companies can hire from anywhere?

當企業能從任何地方雇用人才時，誰是贏家，誰又是輸家？

Some employees and freelancers who can work remotely will have vastly expanded opportunities and the possibility of significant increases in pay, but remote workers in general figure to face more competition and have a higher dependence on luck.

部分能遠距工作的雇員和自由職業者將享有更加廣泛的機會，而且收入可能大增，不過，通常遠距工作者會面臨更多競爭，而且將更依賴運氣。

One thing that seems unavoidable, research suggests, is an intensification of inequality.

研究顯示，有件事似乎無可避免，就是不平等會更嚴重。

In his 1981 paper, “The Economics of Superstars,” Sherwin Rosen described the impact of recording and broadcasting on the incomes of athletes and entertainers. As technology enabled individuals with specialized skills to reach a giant market — one hour of work in a single location could suddenly reach many people across the country — fewer stars captured more of the rewards.

美國勞動經濟學家羅森在1981年的論文「超級巨星經濟學」中，描述錄音和廣播對運動員和藝人收入的影響。當科技讓具備專門技能的個人得以觸及巨大市場，亦即在單一地點製作的一小時工作成果能突然被全國各地許多人收到，就會有更少的明星獲得更多收入。

Rosen expected that over time many other professions would follow a similar pattern. A teacher’s income, for example, was traditionally limited by the number of students who could fit into one classroom. But today on Udemy, an online learning platform, teachers like Chris Haroun have earned millions from courses they created, especially after COVID-19 lockdown pushed enrollments on the platform up by 425%. The vast majority of teachers on Udemy don’t come close to Haroun’s earnings, however, resulting in an extremely unequal distribution of income between superstar teachers and everybody else.

羅森預期，隨著時間推移，會有更多職業出現類似模式，例如一名教師的收入傳統上受限於一間教室容納的學生數，不過，如今在線上學習平台Udemy，哈羅恩這類老師從自己開設的課程賺到數百萬美元，尤其在新冠肺炎防疫封鎖措施使平台註冊人數增加425%之後，賺得更多，只是Udemy絕大多數老師收入遠不如哈羅恩，以致超級巨星老師和其他老師的收入分配極度不平等。

A meaningful shift in the distribution of income can also be seen in platforms where remote instruction is more similar to traditional teaching. On Outschool, an online marketplace for virtual classes for children, hundreds of teachers earn more than $100,000 a year, and dozens earn over $230,000. But most Outschool teachers earn far less, partly because they treat online teaching as a hobby or side hustle, and partly because they haven’t yet figured out how to attract students.

在遠距教學比較像傳統教學的平台上，收入分配也出現有意義的轉變。在兒童線上課程交易網站Outschool，有數百名老師年收入超過10萬美元，數十名年收入超過23萬美元，但絕大部分老師收入少得多，部分原因是他們把線上教學當成業餘愛好或兼職，部分原因是他們還沒有找到能吸引學生的方法。

The adoption of remote work is also affecting more traditional institutions. Scott Galloway, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, told me in April, “Because all my classes are remote now, the school asked me, ‘Can you go from 160 — dictated by the size of Stern’s largest classroom — to 280?’ That’s 120 fewer seats for the other marketing professors to fight over.”

遠距工作也影響到更多傳統機構。紐約大學史登商學院教授蓋洛威4月告訴我：「因為我現在所有課程都改為線上，學院問我，『你可以從一次教160人（史登商學院最大教室座位數）升級到一次教280人嗎？』那還比其他行銷學教授爭取的學生數少120人。」Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5786890