勞動力短缺 日本的“外賣奶奶”開始送拉麪了

在日本，點一份拉麪外賣，送餐的可能不是外賣小哥，而是外賣奶奶。由於日本的老齡化正變得越來越嚴重，勞動力市場短缺，日本的老年人正成爲送餐主力軍。

As Uber looks to expand its food courier service in Japan, the rideshare giant has faced road blocks rarely seen on the home soil of the United States. But putting grandma and grandpa in running shoes seems to make sense.

隨着優步尋求擴大其在日本的食品快遞服務，這家拼車巨頭面臨着在美國本土罕見的障礙，但是讓老年人穿上跑鞋送餐似乎行得通。

courier ['kʊrɪə]：n.快遞員

Uber Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg News his company's food-delivery in Japan, where rideshare is banned, has taken an alternative route to delivering food.

優步公司首席執行官達拉·科斯羅薩西告訴彭博社說，在禁止拼車的日本，優步公司的送餐服務採用了另一種遞送方式。

Japan is a growing nation for food-delivery — still way far behind the US— and the country has a very low unemployment rate. With a growing demand for food delivery, more of the elderly population has applied to become couriers.

日本的食品配送行業發展迅速，但仍遠遠落後於美國，而且日本的失業率非常低。隨着送餐需求的增長，越來越多的老年人加入快遞員大軍。

"The elderly are actually signing up for Eats couriers," Khosrowshahi said. "Eats has been a huge success for us in Japan. It is going to be a very effective introduction to the Uber brand."

科斯羅薩西說:“老年人真的在簽約爲優步外賣工作。優步外賣在日本取得了巨大的成功，是優步品牌業務引入的一個有效方式。”

The report states that 15,000 couriers already deliver food for more than 10,000 restaurants in Japan, but they only reach 15 percent of the country's population. That's far less than Uber Eats in the States, where it reaches roughly 70 percent of America's population.

報告指出，在日本，有1.5萬名快遞員在爲1萬多家餐館送餐，但他們的服務只能覆蓋到日本15%的人口。這遠遠低於優步外賣在美國服務的客戶規模，約佔美國人口的70%。

In Japan, the majority of current food deliverers bring the product via scooter or bicycle, but the older generation of applicants prefer to do it by foot.

在日本，目前大多數送餐員都是騎摩托車或自行車送餐，但老年送餐員更喜歡步行送餐。

scooter ['skuːtə]：n.小輪摩托車

With an unemployment rate of 2.4%, near quarter-century lows, Japan’s labor market is tight. The population is aging; adult diapers outsell baby diapers.

日本的失業率爲2.4%，接近25年來的最低點，勞動力市場十分緊張。人口老齡化，成人尿布銷量超過嬰兒尿布。

"This is one area unique to Japan, and we are looking if we can expand to the rest of the world," Khosrowshahi said.

科斯羅薩西說:“這是日本獨有的特點，我們正考慮是否能將老年人送餐服務擴展到世界其他地區。”

That plan includes increasing staffing levels in Japan by at least 30 percent over the next year, and these jobs aren't limited to grannies in sneakers. They also include sales, operations and account management. It's still a slow pace considering the San Francisco-based company has more than 22,000 employees.

該計劃包括明年在日本增加至少30%的員工，而且這些職位並不僅限於老年送餐員，還包括銷售、運營和賬戶管理。考慮到這家總部位於舊金山的公司擁有逾2.2萬名員工，這一增長速度仍然很慢。

There are cab-hailing apps available, as well as Uber Black, a car-hire service that's only available in Tokyo for now.

日本有叫車應用，也有高級租車服務Uber Black，目前只在東京提供服務。

"It will take time, but we like what we see in terms of the potential of the market," Khosrowshahi said. "The innovations that we are going to make in taxi here are going to carry around the world."

“這需要時間，但我們喜歡我們所看到的市場潛力，”科斯羅薩西說。“我們在日本出租車領域進行的創新將會傳遍世界。

Given Japan‘s strict regulations against ride-sharing, Uber has chosen to work with regulators. It rolled out a pilot program in 2016 to provide rides to seniors in the small coastal town of Tangocho, where an aging population was left with dwindling public transport services.

鑑於日本對拼車的嚴格規定，優步選擇了與監管機構合作。該公司在2016年推出了一項試點項目，爲愛知縣沿海小鎮的老年人提供乘車服務。當地人口老齡化嚴重，公共交通服務也在減少。

dwindle ['dwɪnd(ə)l]：vt.使縮小，使減少

Last year, Uber pivoted to partnerships with local taxi companies. It now has deals with eight cab companies in as many cities, including popular tourist destinations Kyoto, Osaka and Hiroshima.

去年，優步轉而與當地出租車公司合作。目前，該公司已與8家出租車公司在8個城市達成協議，其中包括京都、大阪和廣島等熱門旅遊目的地。

pivot ['pɪvət]：v.以……爲中心旋轉，隨……轉移