美国国家公共电台 NPR Opioid Crisis Looms Over Job Market, Worrying Employers And Economists

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

In Muncie, Ind., the unemployment rate is 4.4 percent, which is to say that just about everyone who wants a job has one. Some economists¹ say that low figure may be deceiving, though, because a significant number of people are missing from the labor² force. In the first of a two-part series, NPR's Yuki Noguchi reports that opioid abuse might help explain their absence in Muncie and countless³ communities like it.

YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE⁴: Express Employment Professionals sits on Muncie's main commercial artery⁵ and places about 120 people every month in jobs at local companies.

Hi.

NATE MILLER⁶: Hi, I'm Nate.

NOGUCHI: Around 2007, the last time hiring was this hot, job applicants⁷ streamed through its doors. Nate Miller is Express's owner.

MILLER: Even with the low unemployment rates that we had at that time, there were still plenty of applicants. Now we're down to that 3 percent to 4 percent unemployment throughout all of Indiana, but there's very few applicants. And the question is, you know, where'd they go?

NOGUCHI: Where did they go? That is an enigma⁸ for economists, from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on down. In the 1950s, nearly all working-age men were in the labor force. Now that's 88 percent. Baby boomer retirement⁹ is a big factor, but opioid addiction¹⁰ might also explain some of the decline. Miller says a third of his applicants these days fail pre-employment drug screens, nowadays almost always for opioids. Meanwhile employers tell him they could build and sell more if they could only find and keep more workers.

MILLER: We know employers who just don't want to know. Don't drug-test them. We don't want to know. It's not necessarily the best practice, but it is something that they do because they need people, and they need them so badly.

NOGUCHI: The opioid crisis is no worse in Muncie than elsewhere. It's representative of the typical small American town with an economy built on manufacturing, agriculture and Ball State University. People here say problems associated with pain pills and heroin¹¹ ramped¹² up about two years ago. It hit more people harder and across more walks of life than the methamphetamine boom did several years back. For metal parts-maker Mursix Corp., dealing¹³ with it head on has been both painful and necessary.

SUSAN CARLOCK: You can see all these punch presses out here will stamp-out metal parts or components¹⁴, right?

NOGUCHI: Susan Carlock is co-owner and vice¹⁵ president of Mursix. She says two years ago productivity took a hit as some employees dealt drugs, got high or nodded-off on the factory floor. Others took time off to handle opioid-related family emergencies. At the time, the company wanted to expand. Instead, Carlock says, establishing new procedures for drug monitoring, rehab and dismissal became the top priority.

CARLOCK: We have companies, overseas companies that are coming to us for us to be a supplier to them, and their No. 1 question is workforce¹⁶ - and sober workforce.

NOGUCHI: Zero-tolerance, she says, is still a balancing act. So many applicants have drug-related records the company now has to consider people with those charges.

CARLOCK: We are a victim of the lack of workforce in this community, and we've had to - I don't want to say lower or bend our standards, but we've re-evaluated.

NOGUCHI: Data indicate alcohol abuse is more prevalent and it's health effects ultimately more lethal¹⁷, but opioids have a bigger impact on work. The National Safety Council and the NORC Research Group at the University of Chicago say opioid users miss twice as many days of work as people with addictions¹⁸ to alcohol or other drugs. And an untold¹⁹ number of opioid users don't work at all. I meet Shon Byrum at a diner that no longer serves spoons so customers won't use them to cook drugs in the bathroom. Byrum is 34, grew up just outside of Muncie, in Winchester, and is now that town's mayor. He worries about an economic vicious cycle, one where people find dealing opioids more lucrative²⁰ than working. That, in turn, makes recruiting more challenging. One local manufacturer, he says, found a workaround.

SHON BYRUM: They are investing, in their plant, in $5.5 million dollars' worth of mechanical arms to take the place of entry-level worker because they cannot keep them. They're failing drug tests or they don't show up.

NOGUCHI: Byrum wants to open new drug treatment centers, not just for public health, but also to foster a reliable workforce so employers can stick around. Michael Hicks directs the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State. He estimates roughly 1.5 percent of Muncie's population is neither working nor looking for work because of opioids.

MICHAEL HICKS: Which seems like a small amount, but with an unemployment rate at 4 percent, that means 1 out of every 4 people who might otherwise be applying for a job are out of the labor force.

NOGUCHI: The after-effects, Hicks says, will linger for at least a generation.

HICKS: What we're really worried about should be a long-term effect of people who are bounced entirely²¹ out of a productive life because of this addiction.

NOGUCHI: For those in recovery, employers like Richard Gill want to offer second chances. He co-owns Gill Bros. Furniture, started by his family 50 years ago. Higher turnover²² and an opioid-related firing left him short staffed.

RICHARD GILL: I have been running a forklift for the last two days in our warehouse²³ so I literally²⁴ took a shower before I came to this interview.

NOGUCHI: Gill says he would love to expand.

GILL: By all means we want to hire younger workers. We do. They have more energy. They have better backs. But it is difficult to find them.

NOGUCHI: And also difficult to make sure they're sober. Yuki Noguchi, NPR News, Muncie, Ind.

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

6 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

7 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

8 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

11 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

12 ramped   

土堤斜坡( ramp的过去式和过去分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• With the arrival of George Lucas, the pace has ramped up. 随着乔治·卢卡斯的到来，速度大大加快。
• They also sold corporate bonds as the global financial crisis ramped up. 在全球金融危机加剧之际，他们还抛售了公司债券。

13 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

14 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

15 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

16 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

17 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

18 addictions   

瘾( addiction的名词复数 )； 吸毒成瘾； 沉溺； 癖好

参考例句：

• He has removed the stigma of drug addictions. 他已经洗去吸毒的污点了。
• Intelligent people are good at using reason to control excessive addictions. 智慧的人善于用理性来控制过度的嗜欲。

19 untold   

adj.数不清的，无数的

参考例句：

• She has done untold damage to our chances.她给我们的机遇造成了不可估量的损害。
• They suffered untold terrors in the dark and huddled together for comfort.他们遭受着黑暗中的难以言传的种种恐怖，因而只好挤在一堆互相壮胆。

20 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

21 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

22 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

23 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

24 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。