春节假期后，应届毕业生们告别了短暂的欢愉，重新面对残酷的就业现状。而现在出现了一种现象：白领不缺，蓝领紧缺。高校毕业生们找不到工作，而一些地方的技术型企业及工厂却身处“用工荒(labor shortage)”的尴尬境地。

　　是时候要重新投入工作了，对吗？但并非所有人的境况都是如此。我们也将就此开始新一轮的话题：“用工荒”。

　　Time to get back to work, right? Well, not everyone is. Which brings us to our next major topic: The labor shortage。

　　想必你已经看过了相关的新闻头条报道。自春节时起，珠江三角洲的许多公司都面临严重的缺工现象。而诸多工厂更是遭受重创。仅仅一个广州市就有约15万的工作缺口；相比之下，该市去年的工作空缺几乎为零。

　　You’ve no doubt seen the headlines. Companies in the Pearl River Delta area have been facing a major labor shortage since the Spring Festival. Industries have been hit hard there. Guangzhou alone has an estimated 150,000 vacancies – compared with practically zero last year。

　　与此同时，关于大学生就业难的报道屡见报端，数之不尽。还有报道称工作起薪正在下降，很多职位的起始薪金已降至约2000元/月。

　　At the same time, we see an endless number of reports about what a hard time college grads are having finding a job. And how starting salaries have been dropping, in many cases to around 2,000 yuan a month。

　　并排摆在我们面前的是稀缺的劳动力与并不乐观的就业前景，所以人们不禁要问：如果大学毕业生们能够降低要求，去当一名蓝领工人，那么情况又将怎样呢？

　　What we have is a labor shortage and gloomy job prospects existing side-by-side, so some people are asking: What would happen if college grads were to lower their expectations and take a factory job?

　　21世纪报对话一位身为蓝领的大学毕业生，也从中找到了五味陈杂的感觉。

　　21st Century has spoken with college grads who headed down this path and has found some mixed feelings。

　　他并非在炫耀什么，但至少他拥有一份工作。

　　He's not bragging, but at least he has a job。

　　与周围的朋友们相比，苏霍连的工作并非那样有趣，也没什么可炫耀，但他很满意自己的第一份工作。去年七月，22岁的苏霍连从桂林电子科技大学自动化专业。经历了漫长而艰难的求职期，而他接到的几份聘任书全都是从事流水线上的工作。经过几个不眠之夜的思考，他决定去当一位蓝领工人。他解释说：“我已经是成年人了，我需要养活我自己，除此之外我还要还清我的助学贷款。”

　　It’s not like any of those interesting jobs his friends have and there’s not much to brag about it, but Su Huolian’s pleased with his first job. The 22-year-old Su graduated from Guilin University of Electronic Technology, in automation, last July. After a long, hard job search, the only offers he was getting were on assembly lines. After several sleepless nights, he decided to take a factory job. “I’m an adult and need to feed myself, and pay off my student loans,” he explained。

　　他选择了桂林当地的一家电子公司。他说，工厂里的工作并不怎么样，但那里也并非血汗工厂。任何一家采用最新科技的公司都可以为他提供一个职业生涯起跳的平台。

　　He chose an electronic company in Guilin. While a factory job might not be great, he said, it was no sweatshop. Any company using the latest technology might give him a place to move up from。

　　他成了一名生产线上的调试员。他必须一次次地重复着同样沉闷的动作，日达千次之多，而他的大脑却是一片空白。

　　He became an adjustor on the production line. He had to repeat the same dumb move over and over, a thousand times a day, with his mind a complete blank。

　　他的工友们也大都来自社会底层。但他发觉同他们的谈话很轻松，他们十分乐意同他分享一些工作上的诀窍。

　　His co-workers were all from a lower background. But he found he was at ease chatting with them and they were more than happy to share useful tips with him on how to work better。

　　但下班后，他独自一人呆在屋子里，思考着未来。他凭借每月1500元工资再加上保险，在这个中等城市中谋生。但这些还不够来支撑一个家庭的开销。并且他时常问自己，“如果有一天，我的身体变糟，那怎么办？”

　　After work, however, he’s alone in his room, thinking about the future. His salary of 1,500 yuan, along with insurance, helps him survive in the medium-sized city. But it’s not enough to support a family. And, “what if I’m not as healthy then as now,” he asks himself。

　　每每听闻一些同学在大公司工作时，他都感到失落。但他提醒自己要积极乐观：“尽管看不到未来有多开阔，但我要放眼当下，踏实走好眼前的路。”

　　Su feels sad when he hears about his classmates on the career path in some big corporation. But he reminds himself to be optimistic and think positively: “Even if I can only see a few steps out ahead of me, I need to focus on taking those steps straight and steady。”