Tech companies are notorious for offering job "perks" that function like gilded handcuffs: fancy benefits like free meals and laundry that keep you tied to the office for long hours.
技术公司在提供“金手铐”般束缚员工的工作福利这方面臭名昭著：比如像提供免费的午餐和洗衣服务这种奇特的福利，以此让员工在长时间待在办公室里。
Jason Fried is a tech CEO with a radically different philosophy. At Basecamp, the 50-person software company he helped found about 15 years ago, the benefits support a culture that urges employees to work reasonable hours (40 a week is encouraged), sleep more, stay healthy and expand their horizons.
贾森·弗里德是一家技术公司的执行总裁，他有完全不同的经营理念。十五年前，他创立了只有50人的贝斯卡软件公司。在贝斯卡公司，员工待遇优厚，一周只需工作40小时，不必熬夜。该公司企业氛围良好，员工健康生活，有机会拓宽视野。
"There"s a lot of praise around big companies doing your laundry for you and having chefs in-house. The message is, "Don"t leave the office, everything you need is here,"" the 41-year-old Fried told The Huffington Post. "That just grosses me out."
“大公司免费提供洗衣和供餐服务是值得称道的，同时，它也传达出一个信息：不要离开办公室，它能满足你的所有需要。”四十一岁的弗里德告诉赫芬顿邮报：“这使我感到厌恶。”
Employees at Fried"s Chicago-based company, which develops project management software, not only receive paid time-off to take vacations, but the company pays for their vacations as an annual "gift" to those with at least one year"s tenure. New employees receive a paid-for night on the town.
弗里德的公司总部在芝加哥，主业是开发项目管理软件。该公司员工不仅可以带薪休假，而且公司为工龄一年以上的员工支付所有度假费用，作为每年的礼物。新职员可报销一晚市中心夜生活的花费。
In a blog post earlier this week, Fried detailed a dizzying array of other benefits:
在本周发表的一篇博文中，弗里德列出了其他一堆令人眼花缭乱的福利。
Four-day, 30-hour workweeks in the summer.
夏季每周上四天班，每周工作30小时
$100 a month for fitness, which employees can spend on gym memberships, yoga classes, race fees, etc.
每月提供100美元的健身费用，员工可以在健身房办会员卡，练瑜伽，跑步等等
$100 a month for massages.
每月提供100美元的按摩费用
CSA (community supported agriculture) memberships, so workers get locally grown fruits and vegetables.
所有员工都是社区支持农业（CSA）会员，所以他们可以吃到当地种植的水果和蔬菜。
The option to work anywhere. Basecamp employees are located all around the country.
有权选择工作的地点。贝斯卡公司的员工遍布全国。
A one-month sabbatical every three years.
每三年休假一个月
There"s more. Recently, Fried formalized a parental leave policy. Mothers and fathers who are primary caregivers get 16 weeks off fully paid.
福利远不止这些。最近，弗里德又规范了父母休假政策。如果已为人父母的员工担负着抚养小孩的主要责任，他们将享有16周的带薪假期。
Fried, who has a 15-month-old son at home, said he wants his employees to get out of the office and experience the rest of life. Their salaries are in the top 5 percent for the Chicago area, he said. Instead of giving them an extra $100 they don"t really need, these perks nudge them to behave in ways that can make them healthier and happier.
弗里德的儿子有十五个月大了，他说他想要员工走出办公室体验一下外面的生活。员工的工资水平在芝加哥地区位于前百分之五。弗里德认为，一再为员工加薪其实意义不大，与其再给他们加100美元工资，还不如用这些福利鼓励他们更健康更快乐地生活。
The vacation policy exemplifies this rationale. Workers get a total of three weeks off. They can spend some of that time on an all-expenses-paid trip courtesy of Basecamp. This year they can get to choose among travel to such places as Martha"s Vineyard, the Grand Canyon, Ethiopia and Verona, Italy. Workers pick from the options in the annual "book" and take the trips, which run five to seven days, alone or with their loved ones. Oh, and Basecamp makes all the travel arrangements because Fried doesn"t want anyone to stress over the planning part.
度假政策是这一理论的绝佳例子。员工共有三周的假期。他们可以花费一些时间去旅行，公司会承担所有费用。今年，他们可以选择这样一些旅游的地点，比如玛莎葡萄园，科罗拉多大峡谷，埃塞俄比亚和意大利的维罗纳。员工可以从每年的小册子中选择旅游的景点，独自前往或是和爱人一起共度五到七天的假期。当然，公司会为员工做好所有的旅游安排，因为弗里德不希望任何人为旅游计划伤神。
The message is clear: "We want you to take vacation. Please get out of here!" Fried said.
所有的这一切传达了一个明确的信息，弗里德说：“我们希望员工去度假，请走出办公室！”
The paid vacations replaced cash bonuses a few years ago. "We"re spending the same amount of money and giving people experience they wouldn"t have on their own. It makes them more interesting people," he said.
几年前，带薪休假代替了现金红利。弗里德说：“我们花费同样的钱带给员工不曾拥有的体验，这让他们成为更加有趣的人”。
Leaving the office is, unfortunately, a kind of radical notion in the tech world where companies like Amazon are famous for pushing people to the edge.
遗憾的是，走出办公室在技术领域是一种激进的观点，像亚马逊公司就因为对员工“极尽压榨”而出名。
"I think the industry is kind of perverted. We"re an industry that likes to burn people out and not have respect for people"s lives outside of work," Fried said. "You don"t need to build a crazy company. You can treat people fairly and do well."
弗里德说：“我认为这一行业的运转模式有点变态。我们的行业倾向于压榨员工，让员工累得精疲力尽，不尊重员工工作之外的生活。我觉得我们无需创立这种疯狂的公司。我们完全可以善待员工又保持公司良好运转。”
Fried"s company is privately held. Asked about its finances, he would say only that it makes "tens of millions of dollars" in profit.
弗里德的公司是私人企业。当被问及公司的资金状况时，他仅透露自己的公司盈利“数千万美元”。
Basecamp does has one thing in common with the rest of the tech industry: Its employees are a relatively homogenous group. Two-thirds are men. None are African-American. "We"re definitely underrepresented," Fried said, though recently he"s been making more of an effort -- and actually managed to raise the percentage of women at the firm. "We"re learning as we go."
贝斯卡公司和其他技术公司有一个共同点，即员工多样性不足。三分之二是男性。没有一个非籍美国人。弗里德说：“我们并没有充分的代表性。”尽管最近几年他正在做更多的努力——实际上他已经成功提高了女性在公司中的比例。“我们一边前进一边学习”。
Things are moving slowly on the diversity front in part because the company doesn"t hire often. The people-friendly culture helps keep turnover very low. Only a handful of workers have left Basecamp over the past 15 years, Fried said.
因为人员流动率低，贝斯卡公司的职工多元性自然受限。加上公司以人为本，跳槽的现象甚是少见。弗里德说，在过去的15年里只有一小部分人离开了公司。
The low turnover helps offset the cost of those generous benefits. Hiring and training new employees is expensive, something that Fried emphasizes when he"s touting the upside of offering all those goodies.
人才流失率低，对大笔的福利支出也算有所补偿。弗里德在宣扬高福利的好处时，强调招聘和培训新员工是很昂贵的。
Still, even for companies that can"t afford the fancy stuff, Fried argued that simply encouraging workers to put in a reasonable 40-hour week would be a huge deal.
弗里德说，即便是那些无力支付诱人福利的公司，仅仅是鼓励员工一周合理工作40小时，也可以解决很大的问题。
"It"s a valuable benefit that people don"t think of as a benefit," he said. "That alone, and encouraging people to get a good night"s sleep, that"s going to pay off in big ways."
“尽管人们不把合理工作时间视为福利，但它其实是很宝贵的一种福利。”他说：“鼓励人们不要超时工作，并睡个好觉，就会给你带来巨大的回报”。
Vocabulary
gross somebody out: 让某人觉得恶心
sabbatical: 较长的假期
rationale: 基本原理
homogenous: 同质的；同类的
tout: 高度评价；过分夸奖
