“DON’T you know about our summer?” asks a spokesperson of a Swedish multinational, himself presumably on holiday as kids chirp in the background. Almost everyone is gone until September, he says. At a German multinational, “the whole board is away for August,” admits a spokesperson. Faced with a slew of out-of-office messages across corporate Europe, there seems little choice for a business correspondent but to report on the phenomenon itself.

“你不知道我们的夏天的情况吗?”一瑞典跨国企业的发言人如是问道；他大概是在度假，孩子们在身边叽叽喳喳地叫着。他表示，在9月之前，几乎所有人不会在办公室。一家德国跨国企业的发言人承认：“整个董事会在8月没人上班。”面对欧洲企业界的大量缺勤现象，对于商业记者来说，似乎没有什么选择，只能就这一现象进行报道。

The practice of collectively taking July or August off dates from the Industrial Revolution, when it made sense to send off all assembly-line workers simultaneously. In England’s north entire factories used to descend on the same resorts. As any tourist who has found themselves in front of an ice-cream shop that is closed during a sizzling southern European summer will know, it has spread beyond factory jobs.

七八月份集体休假源于从工业革命以来，当时让所有装配线上工人都同时休假，是有道理的。在英国北部，所有的工厂都去同一处度假地。在夏季火热人欧洲南部，游客会发现自己在一家关门的冰淇淋店前就能理解到，这种休假已不仅仅是工厂工人的休假了。

Until 2015 France had a rule that mandated some bakeries to stay open in August, so that Parisians—or rather tourists, because no chic Parisian wants to be seen in town during the summer—wouldn’t be deprived of baguettes. So empty is the city that month that the average speed of cars on a key ring road jumps from 38kph (24mph) to 52kph. Some of the best restaurants in Cyprus close in the tourist season. “Summer is near and Frankie will take a nap for a while,” says the site of Frankie’s Social, a trendy bar in Limassol.

在2015年以前，法国有一项规定，强制要求一些面包店在8月营业，这样巴黎人——或者更确切地说是游客，因为没有时髦的巴黎人想夏天在城里让人看见他们——就不会吃不到法棍了。在八月，巴黎市的平均车速从38公里/小时提到52公里/小时。塞浦路斯一些最好的餐馆在旅游季关门。“夏天快到了，弗兰基会小睡一会儿，”弗兰基的社交网站说道——这是利马索尔的一家时尚酒吧。

Much of Milan becomes deserted as well. In the artsy district of Brera, Rita Zubelli runs an ice-cream parlour with her parents and brother. It will close shop for two weeks shortly. Why not hire someone to serve tourists? Italian law has stricter rules for firms with non-family members—the staff toilet would have to be moved from the basement.

米兰的许多地方也变得“荒无人烟”。在布雷拉的艺术区，丽塔 · 祖贝利与她的父母和弟弟经营着一个冰淇淋店，也很快要歇业两周。为什么不雇人来为游客服务呢? 意大利法律对非家族企业的规定更为严格——员工厕所必须不能设在地下室。

It is not only the south that goes in for summer sloth. Production workers at Porsche, a German carmaker, are on a compulsory three-week break. In Norway fellesferie refers to a period of collective leave in July, when many firms shut and services including banks run on summer hours. In the Netherlands the bouwvak still means that many construction workers must take three weeks off in July and August. The timing is doubly puzzling for the industry because demand is strong and summer is the best time to build in a wet country. Even some police stations are shut in August. Presumably crime takes a break, too.

不仅是南欧在夏天变成了树懒。德国汽车制造商保时捷的工人正在接受为期三周的强制性休假。在挪威，“福乐斯菲利尔”（fellesferie）一词的意思是7月的集体休假。当时许多企业关门，包括银行在内的服务业实行夏季营业时间。在荷兰，“布瓦克”一词的意思仍然是许多建筑工人必须在7月和8月休假三周。由于需求强劲，夏季是一气候潮湿的国家开工建设的最佳时机，而建筑行业在这个时间休假，让人对此百思不得其解。甚至一些警察局也在八月关门，或许认为犯罪也会放假。

Though Europe’s appetite for summer holidays is easy to mock, of the ten most productive countries in the world (judged by per-hour productivity) only one—America, in fifth place—is not in Europe. Still, in several countries including Germany and the Netherlands, workers and trade unions have begun to press for more flexible leave policies; not everyone wants to go on holiday at a set time when prices are highest.

尽管欧洲对暑假的渴望让人嘲弄，可是，d 世界上10个生产率最高的国家(按小时计算)中，只有排名第五的美国不在欧洲。尽管如此，在德国和荷兰等国，工人和工会要求采取更灵活的休假政策；不是每个人都想在价格最高的时候去度假。

Firms that trade globally have had to adapt to demand from those parts of the world—especially Asia—that do not slow over summer and that expect someone in Europe to answer the phone. But though the European summer may spread itself out a little more over the year, there is scant sign that Europeans will cut down on their beach and mountain time.

做全球贸易的企业必须适应来自世界各地的需求，尤其是亚洲。亚洲企业在夏天不停业，希望欧洲能有联系得上。不过，尽管今年欧洲的夏季可能会稍有好转，但是，没有迹象表明欧洲人会减少他们在海滩和山里的游玩时间。

编译：黄昶芳

审校：肖念

编辑：翻吧君

来源：经济学人