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由于员工短缺，并且就业市场恢复缓慢，雇主们不可能让员工自主选择休假时间；但同时，他们又担心这样做会挫伤员工的积极性。面对如此窘境，今年夏天，一些公司奇招迭出。
This summer, most of the outdoorsy employees at ski manufacturer Epic Planks will be getting their hands dirty in the shop, where they compress fiberglass and plastic into custom-made skis, with nary a vacation day.
But rather than cursing the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company for their dearth of long-weekend camping trips, they're gleefully anticipating taking extra time off in the winter.
That's because founder Bill Wanrooy and his partner will double up to two weeks of vacation time that workers decide not to take in the summer, which is Epic Planks' busy time for building skis and snowboards to be sold in the fall.
Those who accepted the offer will instead enjoy up to four weeks of vacation in the winter. The idea stemmed from last summer's experience, when last-minute vacation requests left the small business so short-staffed that Wanrooy and his co-founder had to work 12-hour days, 6 or 7 days a week, to keep up with production demand.
"For all of our employees, skiing and snowboarding is their passion, so that allows them to maybe sacrifice a little bit now, but the rewards pay off later," says Wanrooy. "This is our first summer of doing it, but the reception has been great. Everybody loves it."
Epic Planks isn't the only company getting creative with summer staffing. Companies are asking employees to plan their own vacation coverage, requesting that vacationers send out memos to avoid any unwanted surprises, says Michael Erwin, senior career adviser for CareerBuilder.com. They're also cross-training employees to cover for their colleagues during time off, and bringing in temporary staff when needed.
These companies' efforts point to the fact that while many companies are not staffed as heavily as they have been in previous years, they nevertheless recognize the importance of vacation time.
"It comes back to productivity," Erwin says. "If your people are burned out, you're going to have less productive, less creative people. It's the responsibility of employers to say, 'You need to take time out of the office.'"
That's exactly what owner Darcey Ohlin-Lacy does with her employees at Watermark Design, a web design and ad agency in Charlottesville, Va. She regularly asks staffers they've scheduled their vacations until she gets a commitment from them for at least a long weekend.
"I ask that they take vacations," says Ohlin-Lacy. "In our business, if you don't take vacations, you do burn out."
She even hired a junior designer in May to cover an anticipated uptick in workload for the summer. "For us to train a freelancer on each project is way more time-consuming than to just have someone who knows the brands we're working with," she explains.
Indeed, a CareerBuilder.com survey found that one in five employers plan to hire this summer, and 57% of those open positions will be permanent.
The hiring plans are recognition that that staff members who have weathered the recession have themselves grown weathered and that it's time to beef up the ranks, says CareerBuilder's Erwin. "Companies are starting to hire more and bring on people who can support the people who have been doing the work for the last two years," he says.
Companies that want to take on temporary staff to cover for employees on vacation ought to take a second look at the pool of job candidates they've previously rejected, argues Isabel Fernandez-Mateo, an associate professor at London Business School. Often, those individuals are qualified but lost the position to someone even more skilled.
Another likely source is a staffing firm that specializes in employees with the skills you need, since good agencies will have long-term relationships with employees and can ensure they have the necessary technical skills and knowledge.
It's often tempting to think that you can just get anyone for a position that's temporary, says Fernandez-Mateo. But it's best to think twice before taking that approach. "If you're hiring them for only a few weeks, they need to hit the ground running. You cannot train them."
在滑雪用具制造商Epic Planks公司，大多数钟爱户外运动的员工今年整个夏季都将被忙碌的工作占据。他们必须呆在店里，把玻璃纤维和塑料制成定制的雪橇，而不是去休假。
虽然这家位于密歇根州大急流城的公司剥夺了员工的双休日野营之旅，但他们并没有怨气冲天，相反，他们竟然欢欣鼓舞，因为今年冬天他们将可以享受更长的假期。
原因在于公司创始人比尔•万鲁伊和他的合作伙伴决定，对于放弃夏季休假两周的员工，公司将把假期延长一倍。夏季是Epic Planks公司最繁忙的季节，因为公司需要生产雪橇和滑雪板，以便在秋季进行销售。
接受该休假方案的员工可以在冬天享受四周的长假。这一想法来源于公司去年夏天的遭遇。当时，不少员工在最后关头申请休假，导致这家小公司陷入员工短缺的困境。为了保证产量，万鲁伊和他的合作伙伴不得不每天工作12个小时，每周工作6到7天。
“滑雪和滑板滑雪是公司员工的最爱，虽然他们现在做出了一点点牺牲，但在以后可以获得更丰厚的回报，”万鲁伊说。“今年夏天是我们第一次实行这项政策，不过反响不错。大家都很满意。”
Epic Planks并不是唯一一家对夏季人员安排进行创新的公司。求职网站CareerBuilder.com的资深职业顾问迈克尔•欧文称，许多公司要求员工制定自己的休假计划，并要休假员工提前提交备忘录，以避免不必要的意外。而且，他们也会进行岗位轮换培训，这样，在员工休假时可以由其他同事替补，此外，他们还会在必要时聘用临时工。
这些公司的努力表明，与往年相比，许多公司的人手并不充足，但尽管如此，他们仍然认识到员工休假的重要性。
欧文表示：“根本目的还是为了保证生产效率。如果员工筋疲力尽，公司的生产效率和员工的创造力都会下降。所以，雇主有义务告诉员工：‘你得腾出点时间去办公室外面走走。’”
位于美国弗吉尼亚州夏洛茨维尔市的水印设计（Watermark Design）公司主要从事网页设计与广告代理，这家公司的老板达西•沃琳•莱西就是这么做的。她定期问员工是否安排好了自己的休假计划，直到员工承诺至少会在双休日休假。
沃琳•莱西说：“我要求员工必须休假。干我们这一行的，如果不休假，一定会身心俱疲。”
5月份，她甚至聘用了一位初级设计师，来应对夏季工作量的预期增长。她解释说：“对于我们来说，针对每一个项目培训一名自由职业者太过浪费时间，不如找一名熟悉客户的专职员工。”
实际情况确实如此，CareerBuilder.com的调查发现，今年夏天，约有五分之一的雇主有招聘计划，其中57%的工作岗位都是长期职位。
CareerBuilder网站的欧文称，这些公司的招聘计划表明，在经济衰退时期为公司拼尽全力的员工们自己也已经疲惫不堪，现在是时候增加人手了。他表示：“公司纷纷加大了招聘力度，支援过去两年中在公司兢兢业业工作的员工。”
伦敦商学院（London Business School）的副教授伊莎贝尔•费尔南德斯•马特奥认为，如果公司希望聘用临时工来顶替度假的员工，他们应该从之前否决的求职者人才库中寻找目标。这些人通常都符合公司的要求，只是因为竞争对手技能更熟练，他们才失去了机会。
另外一个来源是人事公司，它们可以专门为公司提供所需要的人才，因为一家优秀的代理公司能与员工保持长期的良好关系，并保证他们具备必要的技能和知识。
费尔南德斯•马特奥说，公司往往倾向于认为，临时岗位只要随便招一个人就可以了。但真这么干之前，还是需要三思。“如果公司只需要聘用几周的临时工，他们就必须能够马上投入工作。公司可没有时间对他们进行培训。”
（翻译 刘进龙）
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