The new dream job is working for … the government?
当前最新的理想工作是——政府工作？
Job stability is more important to young graduates than it used to be, which may be why more of them are looking at careers in the public sector.
对年轻毕业生而言，如今，工作的稳定度较过去更为重要，而这或许也解释了，为何他们中越来越多的人开始考虑政府公共部门的相关工作。
One of the best parts of being a young college graduate, and naïve to the grim realities of the working world, is being deluded about how great your career will be.
大学毕业生年轻又天真，不了解工作的残酷现实，他们所抱有的其中一种最为美好的幻想是对于自己职业生涯的美好期许。
Maybe you’ll found the next Nvidia, or win the Nobel Prize in your field, or start a charity that will make the world a better place.
也许你会创办下一个英伟达，在你的领域赢得诺贝尔奖，或是创办一个让世界变得更美好的慈善机构。
Or maybe you’ll take that entry-level job and climb the corporate ladder into middle management.
又或许你会接受一个基层的工作，此后一步步升到公司的中层管理。
The point is, anything is possible! Delusion can be valuable, especially in reasonable doses, and optimism can be self-fulfilling.
关键是，一切皆有可能！幻想总有价值，尤其是适度幻想，乐观主义往往有助于自我实现。
They allow you to take risks while you are still young and learning.
它让你在年岁尚轻且尚能学习时敢于冒险。
Today’s graduates, however, are more practical.
然而时至今日，毕业生已经变得更为务实。
According to a new survey from Handshake, a recruiter for college students, more graduates now aspire to work in government, and fewer want to work in technology.
大学生招聘公司 Handshake 的一项新调查表明，如今，更多的毕业生希望在政府部门工作，而希望在技术领域工作的毕业生则有所减少。
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with working for the government.
需明确的是，政府工作并非劣选。
Some of my best friends, as they say, are in the public sector, and it is possible to have a rewarding career in the civil service.
我的一些好友就在政府公共部门，如他们所说，进入公务员体系也完全可以拥有一份有耕耘便有收获的职业。
But there is something depressing about recent college graduates, with their whole lives ahead of them, dreaming about … a job in government.
然而，对如今的大学毕业生而言，假如他们对未来的全部憧憬只是想进入政府部门工作，这确实令人有些许沮丧。
It’s also important to note that the numbers are not huge.
同样重要的是，应当注意到这些数字都不大。
Only 7.4% are applying to government jobs, up from 5.5% in 2023, compared to 21% in technology (compared to 23% last year).
仅7.4%的毕业生申请政府工作，虽说较2023年的5.5%有所上升，但相比之下，有21%的人申请技术岗位（去年为23%）。
But overall, the survey suggests, more graduates are seeking the predictability of a government job.
然而，总体而言，该项调查表明，更多毕业生正倾向于追求具有可预测性的政府工作。
The most popular factor applicants are looking for, cited by 76%, is job stability.
76%的受访者表示，他们最看重工作的稳定性。
The least, cited by just 21%, is a fast-growing company — even though fast-growing companies are correlated with fast-growing salaries.
而仅21%的人最看重公司能够快速增长——而快速增长的公司往往与快速增长的薪水相关联。
What explains this shift? Perhaps they just feel grateful to be working.
此种转变的原因为何？也许他们觉得能找到工作便足以心怀庆幸。
Despite a historically good labor market, they are inundated with reports about how hard it is to get a job and how no job will make use of their degree. ***
虽然劳动力市场当前表现属于历史上较好时期，但毕业生们被就业紧张的报道淹没，并且以为任何工作都无法使其学以致用。
Then again, graduates seem to realize that even if their first job isn’t great, future jobs will be better: 67% “are confident they can find a job that builds their career.”
随后，毕业生们或许觉得，即便他们的第一份工作不尽如人意，未来获得的工作总会更好：67%的人“相信他们能够找到一份工作以实现其职业追求。”
It is also worth pointing out that this survey comes amid a slight trend of fewer people working in government.
值得指出的是，该项调查进行期间正值政府工作人数有所减少之时。
It could be that job stability is more important to young graduates than it used to be.
工作稳定对年轻毕业生来说相较过去可能更为重要一些。
There are reasons to think that Americans are becoming more risk averse in many ways; maybe one of them is in their job aspirations.
我们有理由认为，在许多领域美国人变得更为保守；其中之一也许就表现在他们对工作的期望上。
Perhaps the Covid generation wants even more certainty after years of chaos in their education.
或许，新冠疫情一代在经历了多年教学方面的混乱状况之后，希望获得更多的确定性。
Maybe this desire to work in government reflects a sense that it is where the growth and opportunity is.
也许此类在政府部门工作的渴望反映了一种感受，他们或许认为政府工作也会带来成长与机会。
Much recent legislation — the CHIPS Act, the Inflation Reduction Act, the Infrastructure and Jobs Act — aims to make the government a bigger player in the economy, even if it does so through subsidizing the private sector.
最近诸多立法——《芯片法案》、《通胀削减法案》、《基础设施与就业法案》——都旨在使政府在经济领域扮演更为重要的角色，即使是通过补贴私营企业来达到这一目的。
Meanwhile, there is a contraction in tech hiring, perhaps because the industry overhired in an era of free and easy capital that is now over.
与此同时，科技行业的招聘规模在缩减，或许因为该行业在过去自由宽松的资本充裕时期招聘人数过多，而当下这个时期已经结束。
Technology will continue to be a dynamic sector of the US economy, but the next few years look uncertain, just as finance did after the financial crisis.
科技行业仍将是美国经济的一个发动机，虽然未来几年前路难言，这点类似于金融危机后的金融业。
In fact, employment in finance has yet to recover to pre-crisis levels, and interest in a career in finance has also fallen.
实际上，金融行业的就业至今尚未恢复到经济危机前的水平，而人们对金融行业的职业兴趣也有所下降。
Granted, this is just one survey, of just 2,687 students in a generation that experienced more uncertainty and turmoil than usual.
当然，这项调查仅仅针对2687名学生，这一代学生比往届经历了更多的不确定性与动荡。
Yet it is striking how their work preferences reflect a shift in policy to grow the public and manufacturing sectors, both of which had long since be on the decline and are less dynamic than tech and finance. ***
不过有一点令人惊讶，他们的工作偏好反映出当前政策向公共以及制造业部门倾斜的变化趋势，这两个经济部门长期以来持续衰退，不如科技和金融业那般充满活力。
It suggests that industrial policy can influence not only capital allocation but also the choices people make when it comes to investing in their human capital.
这表明，产业政策不仅可能影响资本配置，也可以影响人们在人力资本投资的选择方向。
And it’s not as if today’s graduates are completely risk-averse.
不过，这也并不是说这一代毕业生完全不想冒险。
Some 73% expressed interest in working for themselves eventually — not because they want to build a big company or be their own boss, but mostly because they expect self-employment to generate passive income.
约73%的人表示仍有兴趣自己创业——并非是想建立一个大公司或自己成为老板，而主要是因为他们期望通过自由职业以获得被动收入。（译者注：“被动收入”是不需要花费多少时间和精力，也不需要照看，就可以自动获得的收入。）
In a way, it’s almost reassuring: Maybe today’s graduates are just as deluded as previous generations.
从某种程度上来看，这一点令人深感安心：今天的毕业生与过去的几代人一样敢于梦想。