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  3. Germany Moonlighter Economy Tough times mean working second jobs He beg

Germany Moonlighter Economy Tough times mean working second jobs He beg

游客2023-12-28  8
问题    Germany Moonlighter Economy
   Tough times mean working second jobs
   He begins his day early, in slacks and a nice shirt. He ends his day late, in overalls and work boots.
   At 5 a. m. , Andreas Koschorrek gets ready for his morning job as a client manager for a cleaning service. After a four-hour shift, he makes a one-hour drive to nearby Potsdam, where he pulls on overalls and washes windows. The pay from both jobs totals a little over 1, 200 euros (almost $ 1, 500) a month, just enough to pay his rent and child support for his two daughters.
   "It’s hectic," the trained maintenance worker says of the two-job life he began a few months ago. "Every month, the money has to go to something," he says, adding that people have to work extremely hard "just to afford vacation".
   Moonlighting has long been a part of economic reality in the United States. But the financial doldrums in Europe’s largest economy are beginning to force Germans like Mr. Koschorrek into working two or even three jobs to stay afloat and afford some of the finer things in life.
   "Certainly what has happened elsewhere hasn’t gone unnoticed in Germany," says Martin Werding, at the Ifo Institute for Economic Research in Munich. "There have been massive changes in standard work life. Flexible contracts, people changing professions — all this has arrived in Germany as well. In that sense working two jobs is a part of the picture. "
   Once Europe’s economic powerhouse, Germany’s form of economic socialism is being strained by the very aspects that made it attractive. Entire careers spent at one company, generous pension and healthcare plans, and ironclad job protection have proved too costly and have chased away investment.
   To rein in the welfare system and make the economy more flexible, the government — after a long and bitter fight with unions and the political opposition — passed tough economic reforms. Among other things, the changes loosen hiring and firing laws.
   " When (this system) worked really well and people had high wages, it was fine," says Melanie Arntz, at the Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim. "But now people realize in general that there seems to be something that has to be changed, and they are in favor of the reforms and are adjusting to them by having another job. "
   Skilled laborers like Koschorrek are facing high unemployment rates, and even white-collar professionals are no longer guaranteed full-time employment and are looking for ways to shore up their income.
   Bernard Bosil has branched out from his profession of tax adviser, working a total of three jobs now to maintain his middle-class lifestyle. "Every job is so unstable, you don’t know if you’re going to be working in the same place three years from now," says Mr. Bosil, a native of the Rhineland city of Krefeld.
   So he started his own window-cleaning company with a client list initially made up of friends and colleagues, and cut back his hours at the tax office. He now spends 20 hours a week in the office, devotes the rest of the week to the window-cleaning business — and on the weekends tops up steins at a beer garden, the same place he worked as a student.
   Bosil sees advantages to becoming more economically nimble. "It’s a nice change," he says. "To just sit in the office all day is too boring, I need people around me. "
   To help such moonlighters along — and try to bring down unemployment rates that hover around 10 percent — Germany changed labor laws. Under the adjustment, people working part-time jobs can earn up to 400 euros ( $ 500) without having to pay taxes or social costs on the wage. Employers pay a set rate of 25 percent of the worker’s wage to cover tax and some benefits.
   In the six months after the law went into effect, more than a million professionals, students, housewives, and craftsmen turned to working the so-called "minijobs", according to the federal agency set up to manage the system.
   "It’s clear that incentives have changed in favor of having a small job, in addition to a regular job," said Harmen Lehment, of the Kiel Institute of World Economics. "I expect more and more people will make this move and have a minijob. "
   For white-collar professionals like Bosil, his minijob as a waiter helps him pay the rent on his new apartment and go on weekend trips. Blue-collar workers, like Koschorrek, juggle minijobs with work in their field to stay above water.
   " I never thought working two jobs would become so common," says Koschorrek, whose work is categorized as a craft in Germany.
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答案    德国第二职业经济
   艰难时世兼职度日
   他早早起床，穿上宽松的裤子、漂亮的衬衫开始一天的工作；他脱下工作服和靴子结束一天的工作，很晚才回家。
   早上5点，考切莱准备上班，去一家清扫公司做客户管理员。四个小时后下班，驱车一个小时到附近的波茨坦，穿上工作服清洗窗户。两份工作每月收入1，200欧元稍稍多一些(近1，500美元)，刚够付房租和供养两个女儿。
   “忙坏了”，考切莱这位受过专门训练、几个月前开始同时做着两份工作的维修工人说，“每个月，总有需要用钱的地方。”他接着又说道，人们拼命干活“还得挣点钱去度假。”
   兼职一向是美国经济现状的特色之一。然而德国这个欧洲最大的经济大国由于财政困难，像考切莱这样的德国人不得不开始同时做两份甚至三份工作以维持生计并享受一些生活的乐趣。
   “当然，其它地方发生的事情，德国人也注意到了”，慕尼黑伊福学院经济研究所马丁-沃尔丁说。“整齐划一的工作方式发生了巨大的变化。弹性合同，跳槽换工作，这些事情也来到了德国。从这个意义上说，同时做两份工作已很寻常。”
   德国曾经是欧洲的经济发动机，德国式的经济社会主义模式曾经令人艳羡，如今却成了一种束缚。分析人士认为，像终身供职在一家公司、优厚的养老金和医疗卫生保障、铁饭碗等制度耗费了巨额资金，赶跑了许多投资者。
   为了约束福利制度，让经济变得灵活起来，政府经过与工会和反对派的长期斗争，终于通过了比较严厉的经济改革计划，内容之一是从法律上放宽了聘用和解雇员工的规定。
   “要是(旧制度)真的奏效，人民收入很高，这个制度也不错，”曼海姆欧洲经济研究中心的麦拉尼-阿兹说。“然而，现在人们普遍感觉到看来有些东西不变是不行了，他们欢迎进行改革，他们兼职做第二份工作来适应改革。”
   且不说象考切莱那样的熟练工，他们面临着比较高的失业率，即使白领专业人士也无法保证完全就业，他们也在寻找门路以提高收入。
   伯纳德-伯西尔做税务顾问工作，如今他同时兼做三份与自己专业有关的工作，以此维持自己中产阶级的生活水平。“没有哪一份工作是铁饭碗，谁也保不住三年以后还会在原先的地方工作，”伯西尔说。他住在莱因河流域的克莱费尔德城。
   于是，伯西尔自己开了一家清洗公司，第一批主顾都是他原来的朋友和同事，同时他减少了在税务所工作的时间。他每周在税务所工作20小时，剩下的时间便用来打理客户清洗公司业务，周末便来到啤酒园——上大学时他在那儿打过工——斟上满满的啤酒，喝上几杯。
   伯西尔看到了经济灵活给他带来的好处。“这种变化好，”他说，“整天坐在办公室里很乏味，我需要同大家在一起。”
   为了帮助这样的兼职者并把10％上下的失业率降下来，德国修改了劳动法。根据修改后的劳动法，兼职者收入中的头400欧元(500美元)不用上税，也不用负担社会福利费用，雇主代工人按其工资25％的固定比率交纳工人所得税和其他福利待遇。
   据专门为管理这一新制度而建立的联邦政府机构介绍，新法生效后半年的时间里，已有100多万专业人士、学生、家庭妇女和工匠开始从事“迷你活儿”。
   “显然，现在是鼓励人们在做长工之外做一份小活儿”，凯尔世界经济研究所的哈门-勒赫门说，“我希望将有更多的人会行动起来，找一份迷你活儿干。”
   对于像伯西尔那样的白领专业人士而言，做餐馆侍者这样的迷你活儿可以帮他付新的公寓房房租，并可以在周末出去短途旅游。而像考切莱那样的蓝领工人，他们做迷你活儿可以帮助他们入以抵出，维持生计。
   “没想到同时做两份工作会变得如此普遍，”考切莱说。他的工作方式在德国已经变成了一种工作模式。
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