美国科技公司放缓招聘--为不确定性做准备

The U.S. economy is slowing down, and you can get an indication of what exactly that means by just looking at Silicon Valley.

美国经济正在放缓，只要看看硅谷，你就能明白这究竟意味着什么。

Yeah. The pandemic fueled a tech boom.

是。这次疫情引发了科技热潮。

But this week, many of those same companies said they're hunkering down for tougher times ahead.

但就在本周，这些公司中的许多都表示，他们正在为未来更艰难的日子做准备。

NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond joins us now. Good morning, Shannon.

NPR科技记者香农·邦德现在与我们连线。早上好, 香农。

Hi, Asma.

嗨, 阿斯玛。

So what is the mood like in Silicon Valley right now?

现在硅谷的氛围是怎样的呢?

Well, rather than me tell you, why don't we hear from the CEOs of Facebook, Apple and Google?

与其让我告诉你，不如让我们听听脸书、苹果和谷歌的首席执行官怎么说?

I'd say that the situation seems worse than it did a quarter ago.

我得说，情况似乎比一个季度前更糟了。

We know that this is a time of significant challenge around the world.

我们知道，这是全世界面临重大挑战的时刻。

What we are talking about is uncertainty.

我们谈论的是不确定性。

And uncertainty - what you hear - heard Google's Sundar Pichai say at the end there - that's the word that really captures this mood.

而你说听到的不确定性是谷歌的桑达·皮查伊在最后说的——这个词真正抓住了这种气氛。

You know, Google executives said uncertainty or uncertain 13 times on their earnings call this week.

谷歌的高管在本周的财报电话会议上说了13次不确定。

And that is something that just makes executives and investors really uncomfortable. They don't like it.

这让高管和投资者非常不舒服。他们不喜欢这样。

But right now it's what many companies are bracing for.

但眼下，许多公司都在为之做准备。

So what is creating that uncertainty?

那么是什么造成了这种不确定性呢?

Well, there's a few things going on here - so first, the global economy, right?

嗯，发生了一些事情，首先是全球经济，对吧?

These companies are dealing with the effects of inflation, higher interest rates, supply chain disruptions and the war in Ukraine.

这些公司正在应对通货膨胀、利率上升、供应链中断和乌克兰战争的影响。

So, you know, Apple can't get enough parts to build enough Mac computers because of supply shortages.

由于供应短缺，苹果无法获得足够的零部件来制造足够的Mac电脑。

So some of their sales are down.

因此苹果的一些销售额下降了。

Meanwhile, inflation is driving up costs, and so Apple's profit dropped in the last three months.

与此同时，通货膨胀推高了成本，因此苹果的利润在过去三个月出现了下降。

Secondly, because of these economic worries, advertisers are pulling back.

其次，由于对经济状况的担忧，广告商们正在撤出。

And that's hurting tech companies like Google and Facebook and Twitter and Snapchat that depend on advertising.

这损害了谷歌、脸书、推特和Snapchat等依赖广告的科技公司。

Facebook sales dropped for the first time ever last quarter.

上个季度，脸书的销售额出现了有史以来的首次下降。

And it and other ad-dependent companies are also still trying to cope with changes Apple made to its privacy policies last year that have made it harder to target ads on iPhones.

脸书和其他依赖广告的公司还在努力应对苹果去年对其隐私政策做出的改变，这些改变加大了在 iPhone上投放广告的难度。

And then on top of all of that, these tech companies are also coming off this wild run during the pandemic.

最重要的是，这些科技公司还在疫情期间摆脱了这种疯狂的态势。

And people's habits have changed, and the companies now have to adapt.

人们的习惯已经改变，公司现在必须适应。

So what's changing there with people's habits?

那么是什么改变了人们的习惯呢?

Well, we're in a different stage - right? - than in 2020, 2021.

嗯，我们处在不同的阶段，对吧?——与2020年、2021年要不同。

Lots of people then were largely staying home, doing much more online.

当时，许多人大多呆在家里，在网上做更多的事情。

Right.

对。

But these days, you know, Netflix is bleeding subscribers.

但现在，奈飞的用户正在不断流失。

Amazon is - says it's seeing a comedown from the frenzied internet shopping of the past few years.

亚马逊表示，他们看到了过去几年疯狂网络购物的衰落。

So now there's just more doubt creeping in that this tech boom that drove so much demand is really sustainable.

现在人们越来越怀疑，这场推动了如此巨大需求的科技热潮是否真的可持续。

So how are you seeing companies in Silicon Valley cope with all of this?

那么，你看到硅谷公司是如何应对这一切的吗？

Well, they're cutting expenses, slowing hiring.

嗯，他们在削减开支，放缓招聘。

In some cases, there's even companies doing layoffs.

在某些情况下，甚至有公司在裁员。

And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg had a clear message for investors and his own employees this week.

脸书首席执行官马克·扎克伯格本周向投资者和员工发出了明确的信息。

I expect us to get more done with fewer resources.

我希望我们用更少的资源完成更多的工作。

But, of course, you know, that is easier for some of these companies to do than others, right?

不过，这对一些公司来说自然比其他公司更容易做到，对吧?

So, you know, we heard - pretty upbeat note from Apple, right?

我们从苹果那里听到了非常积极的消息，对吧?

It said it thinks sales are going to pick up towards the end of the year.

苹果表示，他们认为销量将在年底回升。

You know, some of these other companies are seeing sales slow.

其他一些公司的销量正在放缓。

But overall, these gigantic companies - you know, they were able to get through the pandemic.

但总的来说，这些大型公司——能够熬过疫情。

That also looked like a very tough time.

那段时间看起来很艰难。

And in the end, they didn't just weather that storm.

最终，这些公司不仅经受住了那场风暴。

It turned out to be a huge opportunity as so much demand was driven.

事实证明，这还有一个巨大的机会，因为驱动着如此多的需求。

People were turning online for school, for work, to connect.

人们在线上上学、工作、交流。

Now in the face of a possible recession - you know, those big companies may be more insulated.

现在面对可能的经济衰退，这些大公司可能不那么容易受影响。

It's harder for smaller companies with fewer resources - the Twitters and the Snapchats and so many others - to do the same.

对于资源较少的小公司来说——比如像推特和Snapchat这样的许多公司——要做到这样就更困难了。