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下岗

English translation: off-the-job workers

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase:下岗工人
English translation:off-the-job workers
Entered by: Chinoise

15:00 Dec 30, 2002
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Social Science, Sociology, Ethics, etc. / Social Work
Chinese term or phrase: 下岗
请教各位一个问题：“下岗”一词应如何翻译比较到位？（此词在国内有无固定译法？）

新年将至，祝各位好运！

Betty
Chinoise
Local time: 00:48
displaced, laid off
Explanation:
· 下岗职工 laid-off workers
· 下岗职工基本生活费 subsistence allowances for laid-off workers

Displaced workers lose their jobs because their plants or companies close down or move, their positions or shifts are abolished, or their employers do not have enough work for them to do.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-12-31 08:58:08 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

displaced worker, laid-off worker是中国日报的标准翻译。
Selected response from:

Zhoudan
Local time: 11:48
Grading comment

各位辛苦了！ 节日期间还有劳各位答题，真是过意不去。
说实话，我出题的目的就是想为“下岗”一词找个正宗的、具有中国特色的译法--—-- 因为， “lay off” 一词仅适用于因个人品行、工作表现、人员安排、资金周转等诸多因素而引起的“解雇”；而中国（女）工下岗，并非一般意义上的“被解雇”；至少我的几个
“下岗” 的好友并不是因为上述原因而被解雇的。所以，思来想去，我还是觉得Zhoudan 的提法及引文比较贴近我的初始想法。

作为操本族语者，Mghnyc, Bruce Humes 和Terry 的英译文都很好，令我耳目一新；而两位同胞Lou Donglai 和Fu Xiaoping 的翻译与解释都颇有见地，使我获益匪浅，在此一并表示感谢。

再次向上述各位以及RaffaellaG, Sunshine, Zhong, Jinshi等所有参与者鸣谢，并提前祝各位新春愉快！

Betty



4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +6laid off
mghnyc
5to become redundant
liberation
5displaced, laid off
Zhoudan
5RIF-ed
Terry Thatcher Waltz, Ph.D.
4Job off
Donglai Lou (X)
4allowanced removal / allowanced displacement
Xiaoping Fu


Discussion entries: 5





  

Answers


2 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Job off


Explanation:
Job off
somewhat official translation

Donglai Lou (X)
China
Local time: 11:48
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in category: 4
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45 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +6
laid off


Explanation:
In the US, laid off workers may have a chance of getting their old job back, but oftentimes being "laid off" is the same thing as having your job permanently eliminated due to cutbacks or restructuring.


    Reference: http://www.lm.gov.cn/gb/content/2002-06/25/content_3111.htm
mghnyc
United States
Local time: 23:48
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  RaffaellaG
2 mins
agree  Sunshine Wang
33 mins
agree  Zhong
58 mins
agree  Kevin Yang
1 hr
agree  Terry Thatcher Waltz, Ph.D.
8 hrs
agree  jinshi: All of the British consultants from PriceWaterHouse & Coopers I met used this word.
2 days 12 hrs
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
to become redundant


Explanation:
To be "laid off" is US English and is quite correct. To be made "redundant" is its equivalent in British English.

liberation
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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8 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
displaced, laid off


Explanation:
· 下岗职工 laid-off workers
· 下岗职工基本生活费 subsistence allowances for laid-off workers

Displaced workers lose their jobs because their plants or companies close down or move, their positions or shifts are abolished, or their employers do not have enough work for them to do.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-12-31 08:58:08 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

displaced worker, laid-off worker是中国日报的标准翻译。


    Reference: http://language.chinadaily.com.cn/vocabulary.shtml?ty=x
    Reference: http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/Sept/wk4/art04.htm
Zhoudan
Local time: 11:48
Native speaker of: Chinese
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment

各位辛苦了！ 节日期间还有劳各位答题，真是过意不去。
说实话，我出题的目的就是想为“下岗”一词找个正宗的、具有中国特色的译法--—-- 因为， “lay off” 一词仅适用于因个人品行、工作表现、人员安排、资金周转等诸多因素而引起的“解雇”；而中国（女）工下岗，并非一般意义上的“被解雇”；至少我的几个
“下岗” 的好友并不是因为上述原因而被解雇的。所以，思来想去，我还是觉得Zhoudan 的提法及引文比较贴近我的初始想法。

作为操本族语者，Mghnyc, Bruce Humes 和Terry 的英译文都很好，令我耳目一新；而两位同胞Lou Donglai 和Fu Xiaoping 的翻译与解释都颇有见地，使我获益匪浅，在此一并表示感谢。

再次向上述各位以及RaffaellaG, Sunshine, Zhong, Jinshi等所有参与者鸣谢，并提前祝各位新春愉快！

Betty


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9 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
RIF-ed


Explanation:
(I don't recommend using this, but just for curiosity's sake...)

In the US Federal Government, losing one's job due to cutbacks is referred to as being "RIFed". RIF stands for "reduction in force", i.e., reducing the workforce in the office or agency in question. It's pronounced as a word, "rif", with a short [i] sound. Rhymes with "skiff".

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2002-12-31 00:35:04 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

Sorry about double post -- I wasn\'t even aware I had posted it **once** at the time!!

When will ProZ add \"Federal Government English > English\" as a language combination??? ;-)

Terry Thatcher Waltz, Ph.D.
Local time: 23:48
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
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10 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
allowanced removal / allowanced displacement


Explanation:
中国的“下岗”与美国的 laid off、RIFed以及英国的 to become redundant ，在概念上有很大的不同，虽然工人的困苦状况有过之而无不及。

第一，下岗工人的“下岗津贴”与“失业救济金”、“失业保险金”不同。西方的失业保险金多半是由政府发放；中国的失业津贴多半是由原雇用单位发放。西方的失业救济或保险金的发放多半有一定时限，如十个月或一年；中国的下岗津贴则没有固定期限，理论上是发到再上岗或再就业为止。

第二，虽然再上岗的机会微乎其微，下岗工人原则上还是属于原就业单位。其实质性的表现是享受原单位的一些福利待遇，如住房、医疗、子女入学、入托等等。

我没见过这个术语的标准译法，给出的两种建议带有解释性，是否妥当还应多听英语为目语的朋友们的意见。

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-01-01 07:51:35 (GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

“下岗”是一个有特别含义的名词，而且，这个名词已经快要成为历史了。从目前的发展趋向看，中国的工人下岗制度正在被与西方的失业保险制度相似的制度代替。北京、上海、青岛以及其他一些省市已撤销了由国家财政支持的“再就业中心”，改行市场化的保险制度。这样，不是就业，就是失业，没有下岗这一说了。“下岗”已经成了一个历史的名词。如果简单地把下岗译为“laid off”，那么，“上海人告别下岗”这句话改如何译呢？如果译为\" say goodby to laid-off\" 显然把意思弄反了，因为实际上是告别了一种很特殊的就业现象，而转为新的真正与 \"laid off\" 相近的制度。所以，实际上是 \"say welcome to laid off\".

参考下面的网页：

http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:Ey8Pkp3EW3kC:news.sinoh...|lang_zh-TW&ie=UTF-8

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 2003-01-03 01:27:41 (GMT) Post-grading
--------------------------------------------------

Betty:

补充一些我所了解的情况供参考：

laid-off 和解雇这两个概念有重要的区别。Laid-off 准确的译法是“遣散”或“裁员”，是由于公司方面的原因 ( 主要是经济不景气或经营不善造成的开工不足) 不能继续雇用；而解雇 (termination) 是个较一般的概念，包括两种情况，一是遣散。二是开除。后者就是通常说的“炒鱿鱼”，是由于员工方面的原因( 品行、能力、态度等等)。当然，公司在裁员时，也要考虑员工的品行、能力、态度等来决定裁谁留谁，但这种考虑是不写在遣散文书上的，所以没有法律意义。在美国和加拿大，被遣散的工人，有资格领取失业保险金，被开除则不能。遭到开除会对以后的就业有严重影响；遭到遣散则不会。对工人来说，这两者的区别是“生死攸关”的。对公司来说，遣散员工要付给员工遣散费 ( 通常是两周的工资 )，不能在同一时间雇用同岗位的新员工；而开除员工则无需付任何费用，并且可以立即雇用新人，但必须有合理的理由，否则员工可以向劳动部门申述。



Xiaoping Fu
Canada
Local time: 20:48
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
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