婚介服務(wù)成為中國企業(yè)福利

On Valentine’s Day, Tian Huimin is marrying the manshe met when she logged on to the company’ssingles chatroom to ask if anyone could give her a lifthome. He volunteered and the rest was “fate”, shesays.

情人節(jié)那天，田慧敏(音)舉行了婚禮;當初她之所以遇上新郎，是因為有一天她登錄公司的單身族聊天室，問有誰能夠讓她搭車回家。她說，他自告奮勇，余下的事都是“緣分”。

That is, fate plus Baidu, the Chinese tech giant that,like many other companies in Beijing, sponsorsdating events and singles clubs to keep its youngworkforce happy and loyal.

其實她的意思是緣分加上百度(Baidu)。與北京其它許多公司一樣，這家中國科技巨擘贊助約會活動和單身俱樂部，保持其年輕的員工隊伍快樂和忠誠。

Staff turnover, or “grasshopping”, is among the biggest headaches for employers in the fast-growing tech sector and matchmaking is becoming an attractive company perk as businessessearch for ways to retain employees.

員工流失，即所謂“跳槽”，在快速增長的高科技行業(yè)是雇主最頭痛的問題之一。隨著企業(yè)想方設(shè)法留住員工，婚介正成為一項極具吸引力的公司福利。

“Once an employee is married, job stability increases significantly,” says Alex Edmunds, co-founder of Conflagr8, a Beijing-based matchmaking service that gets about half its revenuefrom corporate events. He points out that US surveys show that newly married employees are11 per cent less likely to leave their jobs — a figure that rises with each year of marriage — andsimilar trends hold true in China.

“一旦員工結(jié)婚，工作穩(wěn)定程度就會顯著提高，”北京婚介服務(wù)“湊湊吧”(Conflagr8)聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人艾德瑞(AlexEdmunds)表示。他指出，美國的調(diào)查顯示，新婚員工離職的可能性降低11%，而且隨著婚姻的持續(xù)，這個數(shù)字逐年上升，中國也存在類似的趨勢。“湊湊吧”大約一半的營收來自企業(yè)活動。

Beijing-based tech companies are savvy cupids, jointly hosting events with female-heavycompanies such as banks and even local government departments that are getting in on thematchmaking act.

總部位于北京的高科技公司都是精明的丘比特，它們與女性較多的單位(如銀行，甚至正加入婚介活動的當?shù)卣块T)共同舉辦活動。

These marriages made on the shop floor may prove as perfect as those made in heaven: ITengineers have good salaries and government employees have the cherished hukou, or cityregistration, that allows a couple to buy a home or educate their child in Beijing.

在工作場所撮合的這些婚姻，可能被證明與“天作之合”一樣完美：IT工程師有豐厚的薪資，政府雇員有寶貴的戶口，讓夫婦能夠在北京買房和讓子女上學。

Baidu is typical of the tech companies crowded into Zhongguancun, China’s equivalent ofSilicon Valley. About 60 per cent of its 46,000-strong workforce is male and the average age is26. A company survey showed 19 per cent of its single employees had never been in love.

在有“中國硅谷”之稱的中關(guān)村，百度是一家典型的高科技公司。其4.6萬人的員工隊伍大約60%為男性，平均年齡為26歲。一項公司調(diào)查顯示，19%的單身員工從未談過戀愛。

“Most engineers are shy and they find dating a little hard. So we hold these activities to helpthem,” says Summer Zhang, who co-ordinates club activities at IBM, the US tech group inBeijing.

“大多數(shù)工程師都害羞，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)約會有點令人不知所措。因此我們舉辦這些活動來幫助他們，”為美國科技集團IBM在北京協(xié)調(diào)俱樂部活動的Summer Zhang表示。

Corporate singles events tend to be modelled on the hit Chinese TV show If You Are the Onewith games and quizzes to break the ice. Relationships begun at the singles club can flourishthrough a variety of other clubs hosted by large companies in China — popular choices arehiking, music and badminton.

公司單身活動往往以中國熱門電視節(jié)目《非誠勿擾》為藍本，安排各種游戲和測驗以打破尷尬場面。在單身俱樂部開始的關(guān)系，可通過中國大公司主辦的其它各種俱樂部(流行的選擇包括遠足、音樂和羽毛球)繼續(xù)培養(yǎng)。

“These days singles have a lot of problems, and companies want to help,” says ZhangKongying, the human resources employee who oversees Baidu’s 20 staff activity clubs,including its singles club.

“如今的單身族有很多問題，而企業(yè)想幫忙，”負責百度20個員工活動俱樂部(包括單身俱樂部)的人力資源員工張孔穎(音)表示。

Chief among these problems are their parents. To keep long-distant anxious parents supportiveof their only child working in Beijing, Baidu sends out an annual newsletter, including its clubactivities. Parents send handwritten notes back “urging more singles events”, Ms Zhang says.

最主要的問題在于他們的父母。為了讓遠方焦急的父母支持其獨子獨女在北京工作，百度寄發(fā)年度通訊，內(nèi)容包括俱樂部活動。張女士表示，有些父母親筆來信，“強烈要求舉辦更多單身活動”。

Last year four couples who had met at singles’ events got married, including the president ofthe singles’ club. Indeed, such is the success that Baidu is thinking of hosting a mass weddingparty this year.

去年，在單身活動中結(jié)識的四對情侶步入婚姻殿堂，包括單身俱樂部的主席。實際上，這些活動如此成功，以至于百度考慮今年舉辦一場集體婚禮。

What in the west might seem an intrusion of work into private time is welcome in Beijing, whereyoung singles are far from home and lonely at weekends, says Ms Tian, who is retiring as headof Baidu’s singles club following her marriage. “The point is for singles to get together and havefun. We want our single life to broaden, we want to find people in common to enjoy our life.”

婚后不再擔任百度單身俱樂部主席的田女士表示，在西方可能被視為工作侵入私人時間的事情，在北京是受到歡迎的，這里的年輕單身族遠離家鄉(xiāng)，在周末很孤獨。“關(guān)鍵是讓單身的人在一起聚會，享受樂趣。我們希望拓寬自己的單身生活，我們希望找到合拍的人共同享受人生。”