Reinventing Workers for the Post-COVID Economy

The nation’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will hinge ( ) to some extent ( ) on how quickly show managers can become electricians ( ), whether taxi drivers can become plumbers ( ), and how many cooks can manage software for a bank.

This is likely to prove especially problematic for millions of low-paid workers in service industries like retailing ( ), hospitality ( ), building maintenance and transportation, which may be permanently impaired ( ) or fundamentally transformed. What will janitors ( ) do if fewer people work in offices? What will waiters do if the urban restaurant ecosystem never recovers its density ( )?

Their prognosis ( ) is bleak ( ). Marcela Escobari, an economist at the Brookings Institution, warns that even if the economy adds jobs as the coronavirus risk fades ( ), “the rebound won’t help the people that have been hurt the most.”

Looking back over 16 years of data, Escobari finds that workers in the occupations ( ) most heavily hit since the spring will have a difficult time reinventing themselves. Taxi drivers, dancers and front-desk clerks have poor track records moving to jobs as, say, registered nurses, pipe layers or instrumentation technicians.

COVID is abruptly ( ) taking out a swath ( ) of jobs that were thought to be comparatively ( ) resilient ( ), in services that require personal contact with customers. And the jolt ( ) has landed squarely on workers with little or no education beyond high school, toiling ( ) in the low-wage service economy.

“The damage to the economy and particularly to workers will probably be longer lasting than we think it is going to be,” said Peter Beard, senior vice president at the Greater Houston Partnership, an economic development group.

What’s more, he said, COVID will intensify underlying ( ) dynamics ( ) that were already transforming ( ) the workplace. Automation ( ), for one, will most likely accelerate ( ) as employers seek to protect their businesses from future pandemics

The challenge is not insurmountable ( ). Yet despite scattered ( ) success stories, moving millions of workers into new occupations remains an enormous ( ) challenge.

“We need a New Deal ( ) for skills,” said Amit Sevak, president of Revature, a company that hires workers, trains them to use digital tools and helps place them in jobs. “President Roosevelt deployed ( ) the massive number of workers unemployed in the Great Depression on projects that created many of the dams ( ) and roads and bridges we have. We need something like that.”

勞工轉型以因應後疫情時代經濟

美國經濟能否從新型冠狀病毒影響下復甦，將在一定程度上取決於表演經理們要多久才能變成電工，計程車司機能否化身為水管工，以及有多少廚師能替銀行管理軟體。

這對零售業、餐旅業、建築維修和運輸業等服務業數百萬低薪工人來說，問題恐怕特別大。這些行業可能受到永久性損害或發生根本性改變。若辦公室裡人變少了，工友要做什麼呢？若都市餐廳生態系統繁盛不再，服務生又該如何？

他們的前景是黯淡的。布魯金斯學會經濟學家Marcela Escobari警告說，即使就業機會隨新型冠狀病毒疫情風險消退而增加，「經濟反彈也幫不了那些受創最重的人」。

Escobari檢視16年來的數據發現，今春以來受衝擊最大的一些職業，勞工將很難自我改造。計程車司機、舞者和櫃檯人員轉行從事護理師、舖管工或儀器技工等工作者十分有限。

新型冠狀病毒突然帶走了一大批原本被認為較不容易永久消失的工作，即需與客戶面對面接觸的服務工作。這一衝擊直接打擊到那些僅受過高中教育、在低薪服務經濟區塊中掙扎的勞工。

經濟發展組織大休士頓商會資深副總裁Peter Beard表示：「經濟、尤其是勞工們受害的時間，可能比我們預期的還要更長。」

他說，更重要的是，新型冠狀病毒疫情將強化已經在改變職場的潛在動力，自動化即為一例，由於雇主力求讓自己的企業未來不受大疫情影響，自動化極可能加速。

這項挑戰並非不能克服。然而，儘管有少數成功的例子，讓數百萬勞工轉業仍是巨大的挑戰。

雇用勞工後培訓他們使用數位工具，並幫他們找到工作的Revature公司總裁Amit Sevak說：「我們需要一項針對職業技能的新政。小羅斯福總統大蕭條時期把大量失業勞工投入工程計畫，興建了我們現在使用的水壩、道路與橋樑。我們需要這樣的東西。」

#高雄人 #學習英文 請找 #多益達人林立英文
#高中英文 #成人英文
#多益家教班 #商用英文
#國立大學外國語文學系講師

Bread in the Deserted Place

“In those days, when there was a very great multitude, and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to himself, and said to them, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have stayed with me now three days, and have nothing to eat. If I send them away fasting to their home, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come a long way.” His disciples answered him, “From where could one satisfy these people with bread here in a deserted place?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground, and he took the seven loaves. Having given thanks, he broke them, and gave them to his disciples to serve, and they served the multitude. They had a few small fish. Having blessed them, he said to serve these also. They ate, and were filled. They took up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over. Those who had eaten were about four thousand. Then he sent them away.” (Mark‬ ‭8:1-9‬ ‭WEB‬‬)

Jesus had compassion on those who followed Him and were hungry. They were in a deserted place.

Many believers are experiencing lack in this season. Some are losing their jobs, others are losing their businesses, seeing a decline in income, and economic prospects seem bleak. You could say it is like looking for food in a deserted place.

Abba God whose heart is compassionate just as Jesus is, wants you to be well-supplied.

He can feed you with more than enough bread, even in the deserted place. Nothing is impossible for God.

When His supply comes, it is not going to be a trickle. It will be more than you need!

Have a good opinion of your Heavenly Father. He is not trying to teach you a lesson by making you starve. He is the one who has compassion on the hungry.

Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes is a miracle that appears in all four gospels. God knows that we tend to worry about provision, and He wants us to believe that He will surely supply our needs, no matter how huge the demands upon us seem to be. God will still make a way for us.

Go ahead and thank Him for multiplying your provision. In His perfect timing, you will surely see His goodness in the land of the living!

The 37 recorded miracles of Jesus Christ in the four gospels show us God’s heart of love and Grace towards us. As you explore them in “Messiah’s Miracles”, faith will arise in your heart to receive miraculous breakthroughs in your own life: https://bit.ly/messiahs-miracles

https://medium.com/bleak-solitude/%E4%BA%BA%E6%89%8D%E5%A4%96%E6%B5%81%E7%9A%84%E6%95%85%E4%BA%8B-650ddb751d0d

"clse2u (reimagined)” by Dominic Chin & Jean Seizure is out now on all streaming platforms!
https://backl.ink/146973506

Dear Jean,

Thank you for singing this beautiful song with me. This song was birthed out of a pure heartbreak in 2018, not only grieving a sudden loss of a loved one, I also experienced my first heartbreak. Even though things are just bleak (or worse) for me 2021, I'm just glad that my heart is not aching alone, and I'm sharing this moment with you too :') Love you always.

Dominic's Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dominicchin.music
YouTube: youtube.com/dominicchin.music
Instagram: instagram.com/dominicchin.music

Jean's Social Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jeanseizure/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/JeanSeizure/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanseizure/

Credits:
Art direction, photography & videography by FRAME THE FOLKS
Campaign planning, management, digital art & video post production by This Projective
Studio & equipment rental by JustRentLah
Fashion styling by Gabby G
Special thanks to Samson Sim & Mikelle Chin

Written by Dominic Chin
Performed by Dominic Chin, Jean Seizure
Produced by Edwin Wong, Nicholas Zach
Strings by Prisca Ho
Drums by Low Han Quan
Piano by Lee Ann Gie
Mixed by Evan Tan
Mastered by Adam Shah
Distributed by Umami Records

《黯淡的信仰：孤獨者》（Bleak Faith: Forsaken）是獨立遊戲團隊在2019年夏季展開群眾募資的類魂硬派動作遊戲，超巨大BOSS，加上場景光影與戰鬥動作氛圍，都有著濃厚致敬《黑暗靈魂》及《汪達與巨像》的味道。
本作世界觀處於一個機械與生物混合的黑暗勢力恐怖統治底下，玩家將扮演一位尚存人性的放逐之人來對抗牠們，必須在開放世界中不斷冒險前進，挑戰自己未知的命運。

近日官方釋出最新展示影片，可以看到玩家將遭遇各種奇怪的生物並與牠們交戰，面臨巨大生物時也可以攀爬到牠們身上。除了近戰、遠程武器外，還有魔法可以使用。《黯淡的信仰：孤獨者》試玩體驗版頁面資料已在SteamDB出現，但目前仍處於隱藏狀態，推測極有可能在Steam上架試玩版。遊戲預計今年推出，雖然發售平台仍未確定，但PC平台優先推出的機率不小。對這款遊戲感興趣的玩家，可以持續關注我們帶來的第一手情報喔！

@ Miso Vukcevic
@ Mirko Stani

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