Sleeping on the job: Staff at London based Interxion will be given the choice to sleep at work during the Olympics, in a bid to avoid busy commutes |
With roads and tube lines set to be more congested than ever this summer a few people may be tempted to use it an excuse for a day off. But for employees at data services provider Interxion a chaotic commute during the Olympics will hold no weight. That's because, in a bid to keep things ticking over this summer, bosses at the London company are asking staff to sleep at work - in space pods. Far from sleeping on the job engineers at the Brick Lane based firm in east London will be asked to stay behind and sleep in the claustrophobic capsules to avoid the rush hour. And while other companies are set to offer staff the luxury of working from home during the Games the firm behind the capsules hope to get more workplaces on board. Podtime, the firm behind the unusual cabins, are billing them as the perfect solution to the Olympics' congested commute. On their official website they state 'London businesses will be severely affected by the transport problems caused by the Olympics. 'Cost effective and versatile pods provide the best solution to this by allowing your staff to stay on site as necessary, in comfort and privacy.' Coming in a range of colours, the capsules made of polycarbonate, sell at anything from £1,375. The stock models are fitted with either foam mattresses or a standard single mattress as well as a storage shelf, mirror and power points. These types of capsules have been around for years, in hotels, but Interxion is thought to be among the first to have them stalled at the workplace. An independent report carried out by Oxford Economics last year estimated that around 450,000 visitors will stay in the capital while 5.5 million people will visit for at least a day during the Games. This will inevitably mean more cars on the road and greater congestion on the Underground. (Read by Emily Cheng. Emily Cheng is a journalist at the China Daily Website.) (Agencies) |
今年夏天,英國(guó)的馬路和地鐵將出現(xiàn)前所未有的擁擠,有些人可能會(huì)很想以交通堵塞為由請(qǐng)假。 然而對(duì)數(shù)據(jù)服務(wù)供應(yīng)商Interxion的雇員來(lái)說(shuō),奧運(yùn)期間混亂的交通不足為懼。 這是因?yàn)檫@家倫敦公司的老板們今夏為了保持公司正常運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn),讓員工睡在辦公室的“太空艙”里。 這家公司的工程師完全不是在工作時(shí)打盹,而是為了躲避交通高峰期,被留宿在幽閉的“太空艙”里。這家公司的總部位于倫敦東部的磚塊街。 其他公司打算奧運(yùn)會(huì)期間讓員工享受在家工作的待遇,而這家設(shè)置“太空艙”的公司希望能增加更多工作人員用艙。 發(fā)明這種奇特的太空艙的Podtime公司宣稱這是應(yīng)對(duì)奧運(yùn)會(huì)交通擁堵的最佳方案。 該公司在官方網(wǎng)站上說(shuō)道:“倫敦商業(yè)將會(huì)因奧運(yùn)會(huì)導(dǎo)致的交通問(wèn)題而受到嚴(yán)重影響。 “太空艙成本低又集多功能于一身,通過(guò)讓員工在必要的時(shí)候就地留宿,又舒適又清靜,為奧運(yùn)交通問(wèn)題提供了最佳解決方法?!?/p> 這種小艙用聚碳酸酯制成,有多種顏色,起價(jià)為1375英鎊。 這種小艙的模型內(nèi)裝有儲(chǔ)物架、鏡子和電源插座,還有泡沫床墊或標(biāo)準(zhǔn)單人床墊。 多年前旅館里就已經(jīng)有這種小艙,但據(jù)認(rèn)為Interxion是第一個(gè)將這種小艙安置在工作場(chǎng)所的公司。 《牛津經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)》去年發(fā)布的一份獨(dú)立報(bào)告估計(jì),奧運(yùn)會(huì)期間約有45萬(wàn)游客將在首都倫敦停留,550萬(wàn)人至少會(huì)在倫敦停留一天。 這意味著馬路上不可避免地會(huì)有更多車,地鐵里也必然會(huì)更加擁擠。 相關(guān)閱讀 英國(guó)推出奧運(yùn)旅游折扣 鼓勵(lì)民眾國(guó)內(nèi)度假 歐盟:2050年前歐洲城市實(shí)現(xiàn)“無(wú)車交通” (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津 陳丹妮 編輯:Julie) |
Vocabulary: hold no weight: 不重要 tick over: (事業(yè)等)進(jìn)展緩慢;(生活等)勉強(qiáng)過(guò)得去 space pod: 太空艙 claustrophobic: 患幽閉恐怖癥的;導(dǎo)致幽閉恐怖癥的 bill: 宣布 versatile: 多功能的;多方面適用的 |