美国SOHO一族日益增多

Amid the economy's many ailments, some good news has remained mostly off the radar: The at-home work force is growing, and it is encompassing new occupations ranging from radiology and nursing to auditing and teaching.
在那么多的经济问题之中，有些好消息仍基本上没被人们注意到：SOHO一族正在扩大，而且涵盖的新职业也从解读放射医学影像和护理到审计和教学，不一而足。

The bad news: Fierce competition means your odds of landing one of these jobs are poor. And if you succeed, you will probably take a pay cut.
坏消息是，激烈的竞争意味着找到这类工作的机会很小。即使是找到了，也可能要接受薪水降低的现实。

For companies, home-based employees, independent contractors and freelancers are helping cut costs and improve customer service. Full-time, home-based freelancers and independent contractors in the U.S. are expected to increase by 200,000 workers to 11 million by the end of 2009, says Ray Boggs, a vice president of IDC, Framingham, Mass., a market-research firm; he sees another 200,000-worker increase in 2010.
对企业来说，在家工作的员工、独立承包人和自由职业者有助于降低成本、改善客服。马萨诸塞州市场研究公司国际数据公司(IDC)副总裁伯格斯(Ray Boggs)说，预计2009年底前，美国的全职、在家工作的自由职业者和独立承包人将增加20万人，至1,100万。他认为，2010年还会再增加20万。

While that is a mere blip on the radar in an economy that has been losing nearly that many jobs in a month, the trend means a lot to the individuals who are benefiting from it. They are avoiding dreaded commutes, doing volunteer work, pursuing college degrees or caring for family. And they are performing increasingly complex tasks from home, from reading MRIs to helping clients search for Bigfoot, the mythic wilderness creature.
尽管在一个单月新增失业人口就有这么多的经济体中，这个数字微不足道，但趋势对那些从中获益的个人来说却有着重要意义。这些人避开了令人头痛的上下班，还可以做义工，攻读学位或是照顾家人。此外，他们可以在家里从事越来越复杂的工作，从解读磁共振影像到帮助客户寻找传说中的野生动物“大脚怪”。

'We are seeing a general broadening of the work-at-home landscape,' says Christine Durst, chief executive of a work-at-home Web site and co-author of a new guidebook on the topic.
德斯特(Christine Durst)是一个在家办公网站的首席执行长。她说，我们开始看到在家工作的领域在普遍扩大。她还与人合着了一部新的相关指导书。