White Collar Burnout

枯竭的白领

生活节奏的加快，使得现代人心理承受着巨大的压力。

As China rockets towards its inevitable position as a financial and political giant, it has an almost vertical learning curve in bridging the gap between old work cultures and the demanding new pace.

随着中国的崛起，其经济和政治大国的地位已经无可争辩，然而在弥补旧工作文化与崭新高效节奏之间的鸿沟方面，却显得时间紧、任务重。

As another fat file lands on her desk, Wang Yan takes a deep breath and tries to calm her growing agitation. Fatigue shows in her eyes. As an attorney in a US law firm in Shanghai, Wang Yan works approximately 3,000 hours a year, which translates to 375 days on the job if it is averaged out to 8-hour days. "I can never catch up. Before one case is completed, my boss loads me with three more,” said she.

看着堆在桌子上厚厚的一叠资料，王燕（音译）做了一个深呼吸，努力克制自己焦虑的情绪。眼中的倦意显而易见。王燕是上海一家美资律师事务所的律师，每年大概工作3000个小时，如果按每天工作8小时计算，就是 375天。“工作永远都干不完，一件案子还没完，老板就又给我三个。”，她说道。

She belongs to the generation most people believe is reaping the benefits of three decades of rapid economic growth.

她所代表的一代人，被大多数人看作正在享受中国三十年来经济迅速增长的成果。

But these elite members of China`s new class of upwardly mobile are feeling the strain. Even as they strive to clamber up the corporate ladder, many are so drained by the effort that they are burning out.

在中国，涌现出的精英新贵们却被工作累得精疲力竭。尽管他们都想得到晋升机会，但大部分人已经是心有余而力不足了。

Statistics find a shockingly high proportion of employees suffering "job burnout", a term coined in the 1960s from the Graham Greene novel A Burnt-Out Case. It is now defined as a "psychological condition of emotional exhaustion and reduced sense of personal accomplishment".

统计显示，感受到“职业枯竭”的雇员，数量大得惊人。“职业枯竭”这个术语首创于上世纪60年代，格雷厄姆?格林的小说《一个枯竭的案子》。现在这个词被定义为“情绪低落和成就感降低的心理状态”。

Yan Zhengwei, a psychological therapist, has seen more and more exhausted professionals coming to him in recent years.

心理治疗师严正伟（音译）说，近几年来，越来越多疲惫的上班族向他寻求帮助。

They are usually the elite of society and they know it. While losing interest in their work, they also face the dilemma of not knowing what else can interest them, according to Yan.

他还说，咨询他的人通常是社会的精英，他们一方面对工作丧失兴趣，一方面又面临困境，不知道自己还能对什么产生感兴趣。

He believes the root of the problem is pressure.

他认为，压力是问题的根源。

Low- and mid-level managers suffer the most pressure. They are usually sandwiched between senior officers who give orders and their subordinates, whom they have to coax into productivity.

中低层管理人员承受着最大的压力，往往夹在上级和下属之间，领导给他们下达命令，而他们又要想办法调动下级的工作积极性。

They have to deal with long working hours, low job satisfaction, little control over their role at work and even less support from senior management.

他们工作时间超长，工作满足感不强，职责定位不明，甚至从管理层得到的支持也不足。

Small-town scholars hitting the big time in major cities are also likely to suffer more stress. For one, they have to work harder to overcome the prejudices of locality. And in a strange city, they are often without a familiar support network.

来自小城市的人想在大城市取得成功，也要承受更大的压力。他们必须要努力工作，克服当地人的偏见，而且，来到一个陌生的城市，就没有熟悉生活圈的支持。

Employees born during and after 1980s, the products of China`s one-child policy, are generally more pampered by parents and grandparents.

80年代后的职员，一般都是中国计划生育的产物，通常在家里有父辈和祖父辈两代人的宠爱。

They are the ones who are more likely to suffer burnout.

他们最有可能体会到职业枯竭。

That is because they cannot reconcile the treatment at home with the treatment at work and when success is not theirs, they feel thwarted.

因为，他们没法妥善处理家里娇惯以及工作冷遇之间的落差，而当别人取得成功时，也会产生一种挫败感。

As businesses matured and market forces started to work, mergers and acquisitions have made employment less secure.

各行各业日渐成熟，市场开始发挥作用，公司的兼并与收购，这些因素使得工作缺乏稳定性。

The iron rice bowl is no more.

现在已经没有铁饭碗了。