紐時賞析／科技業職場已政治化？川普2次入主白宮 美科技公司態度大不同

Big Tech Employees Quiet About Election This Time

川普二進宮 大科技公司維權員工噤聲

If any industry could have said its workplaces were politicized, it was tech.

如果有哪個產業能說自己的職場已經政治化，那就是科技業了。

Early in Donald Trump’s first term in the White House, America’s tech giants loudly protested his temporary ban on travel from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

在川普入主白宮首個任期初期，美國科技巨頭高聲抗議他暫時禁止穆斯林占多數的七個國家公民進入美國。

But after this week’s presidential election, the largely liberal workforces of tech’s biggest companies were quiet. While the definitive nature of the election most likely played a role, the change also represented an effort by executives to dampen employee activism in recent years.

但在本周總統大選後，大型科技公司多半屬於自由派的員工都沉默了。儘管選舉的決定性很可能發揮作用，這個改變也代表主管們近年為平息員工維權行動所付出的努力。

If the presidential election was going to be the biggest test of these new rules, the vigilance wasn’t necessary. Reactions to the election on company message boards and forums were muted.

如果總統大選是對這些新規範的最大考驗，這類警覺就沒有必要。公司留言板和論壇對於選舉的反應淡漠。

The heads of most of the country’s leading tech employers didn’t acknowledge the election results to their staffs, though many of them posted their congratulations to Trump on X, praising his “decisive” and “hard-fought” victory.

美國大多數頂尖科技公司的負責人沒有向員工認可選舉結果，儘管他們許多人在社群媒體X發表貼文祝賀川普，稱讚他「決定性」且「艱苦奮鬥」的勝利。

Trump’s victory landed in an industry deeply changed since his last term. Tech companies had long espoused the idea of bringing your whole self to work, and they were built on a culture of blunt expression. But the turmoil of the past several years has turned executives from the freewheeling cultures they once fostered.

川普的勝利落在一個自他上個任期以來已深刻改變的產業。科技公司長久以來倡導將完整的自我帶到工作中，且建立在直率表達意見的文化上。但過去多年的混亂，已讓主管們從他們曾經鼓勵的隨心所欲文化中轉變。

And as they have focused their companies on efficiency coming out of the pandemic, they have also taken a more assertive approach to their own workers, enacting in some cases the largest layoffs in their histories and demanding that people return to working in an office — or show themselves the door.

隨著他們關注公司在疫後提升效率，他們也對自己員工採取更強硬措施，在某些情況下實施公司史上最大規模裁員，並要求員工返回辦公室工作，否則就被趕走。

Google since 2019 has instructed employees to keep politics out of the workplace, and this year the company cracked down on its irreverent Memegen forum, its corporate town square, after workers feuded about the war in Gaza.

谷歌2019年起就指示員工，不要讓政治進入工作場所，員工因加薩戰爭發生爭吵後，該公司今年鎮壓其直言無禮的公司內部公共討論平台Memegen論壇。

But the real test of tech’s newfound neutrality will be once Trump takes office, if he follows through on his promises on issues the companies have opposed.

但對科技業全新中立立場的真正考驗將是一旦川普上任，他是否會在公司反對的議題上堅持兌現他的承諾。

“Remember the famous travel ban?” he said at a September rally. He vowed to bring it back.

他在今年9月的一場集會上表示：「記得著名的旅行禁令嗎？」他誓言要恢復禁令。

文／Karen Weise, Nico Grant and Mike Isaac　譯／羅方妤