Iam indebted to a Financial Times reader called Hornbill for introducing me to Catch-55.

十分感谢一位名叫霍恩比尔(Hornbill)的英国《金融时报》读者，他向我介绍了“第55条军规”(Catch-55)。

Hornbill was commenting under a recent piece I wrote about an age discrimination case against Credit Suisse . An employment tribunal had found that the bank had unfairly forced out Tony Shiret, a 55-year-old analyst, so that it could promote a younger colleague who was threatening to leave.

霍恩比尔在我最近写的一篇文章下发表了评论，文章的内容涉及一起针对瑞信(Credit Suisse)的年龄歧视案。就业法庭裁定，该行不公正地赶走了55岁的分析师托尼•史莱特(Tony Shiret)，以便可以提升一位威胁要离职的较年轻员工。

Hornbill wrote: “The new Catch-22, call it Catch-55. We will have to carry on working beyond normal retirement age because there won’t be enough money in our pension pots. Yet we get eased out to make way for younger people.”

霍恩比尔写道：“对于这条新的‘第22条军规(Catch-22)’，我叫它‘第55条军规(Catch-55)’。由于我们的退休金账户中资金不足，我们在正常退休年龄后将不得不继续工作。然而为了给年轻人让路，我们会被逐渐排挤出局。”

You can see it from the employers’ point of view. They have new generations of impatient young staff, anxious to get ahead, and older employees who are still hanging around.

从雇主的角度的确可以发现这一规律。他们手下既有着新一代急着上位、缺乏耐心的年轻员工，也有仍然流连在岗位上的年长员工。

Whether the older staff perform better or worse than the younger ones depends on the industry and the individual. Credit Suisse argued that Mr Shiret’s performance had slipped. However, the tribunal found the bank had not given him credit for his mentoring skills and contributions such as setting up a Credit Suisse athletics club.

年长员工的业绩是否优于年轻员工随着行业和个人的不同而不同。瑞信争辩说史莱特的业绩出现了下滑。然而，就业法庭裁定该行没有计入他辅导新人的技能，以及设立瑞信运动员俱乐部这类贡献。

Hornbill did not mention one of the most important reasons companies get rid of older staff: they often cost more. They have worked for longer, including through some high-inflation years, and their salaries reflect the increases they have enjoyed.

霍恩比尔没有提到企业辞退年长员工的首要理由之一：聘用他们的成本往往更高。他们工作的时间更长，工作期间还经历过部分高通胀年代，他们的薪金水平反映了他们曾享受过的薪资增长。

But older employers often have reasons to carry on working. Some may have pensions that are too skimpy to support them in retirement, but others will have benefited from the glory years of final salary schemes.

然而，年长员工继续工作往往也有充足理由。部分人可能退休金太少，不足以支持他们的退休生活，而其他人则是因为延长工作将使他们从最终薪水给付制计划(final salary scheme)获益，得以享受更富裕的晚年。

The reason they may not want to go is that they enjoy work and realise that, with average lifespans in wealthy countries now reaching 80 years, 25 years is a long time to be retired.

他们不愿意离职的原因还有一种可能，那就是他们喜欢工作。而且他们认识到，考虑到富裕国家的平均寿命达到了80岁，退休生活将达到25年左右，这有点太长了。

For those in this position, here are five ways to confront Catch-55.

对于那些处于这种情况的人们，有五种方法应对“第55条军规”。

●Brazen it out. Age discrimination laws in many countries have made it harder for companies to get rid of older staff. If one of your managers suggests you think about going, you could mention Mr Shiret’s case or one similar to it. You could ask, as Mr Shiret did of Credit Suisse, what percentage of staff are over 50. Many managers will retreat in fear. The human resources department may tell them to desist.

●厚着脸皮呆下去。许多国家都有反年龄歧视法律，这令企业更难辞退年长员工。如果你有个上司暗示你考虑一下离职问题，你可以提一下史莱特或类似案子。你可以像史莱特对瑞信那样，问他们50岁以上的员工占多大比例。许多经理人会由于害怕而打退堂鼓。人力资源部门也可能会告诉他们停止这种做法。

●Become an expatriate. Many employers are finding it difficult to persuade promising 30- or 40-something staff to take foreign postings. Their partners often have their own careers and are reluctant to move. Parents no longer like to leave their children in boarding schools at home. They worry about children’s education in a new country and about their health, as they did when Beijing was blanketed in smog.

●派驻国外。许多雇主发现很难说服有潜力的30或40多岁的员工接受国外的工作岗位。他们的配偶通常有自己的职业，不愿意一同搬迁。而作为父母他们也不想把子女留在国内的寄宿学校里。如果把子女带出去，他们则要担心子女在其他国家的教育或健康问题，比如北京被雾霾笼罩时他们就是这样。

For some, their mid-50s or older is an ideal time to work in another country. The children are probably grown up. Given the cost of housing, having them live in your home while you are away may be an excellent solution all round – and you help your employer solve an expatriate staffing problem.

对有的人来说，50多岁或者年纪更大的时候是到其他国家工作的理想年龄。孩子们可能已经长大了。考虑到住房成本，在你出国后让他们住在你家里是一个皆大欢喜的极好解决方案——而且你还帮助你的雇主解决了外派员工的问题。

●Take a pay cut. You may not be ready to retire, but you may be able to afford a reduction in hours.

●降低薪水。你可能还没准备好退休，但是你也许能缩短工作时间。

Suggesting to your boss that you drop down to, say, four days a week will save your employer 20 per cent of your salary.

向你的老板建议，把你的工作时间缩短至每周四天可以为他节省你薪水的20%。

As well as being welcome to them, and possibly banishing any immediate thought of their asking you to retire, it will give you time to do something other than work. This will contribute to the fourth way of dealing with Catch-55.

这么做不仅会受到他们的欢迎，而且可能会让他们放弃任何要求你退休的念头，还能够令你有时间做一些工作之外的事。这将有利于你实现第四种应对“第55条军规”的办法。

●Develop your other activities and interests. While you may be able to put off retirement for a while, it will eventually come. You need to be prepared to fill the years ahead with satisfying activity – and you need to start planning it now.

●从事其他活动，发展其他兴趣。尽管你也许能推迟一段时间再退休，但退休生活终究还是会到来。你需要做好准备，用能让你获得满足感的活动充实以后的退休生活，并且你需要从现在就开始规划这件事。

Doing voluntary work, becoming a trustee of a charity, sitting on the board of other companies (if such opportunities are available) and pursuing freelance work (if your employer allows it) are all ways of ensuring you have a life beyond your current job.

从事一些志愿工作、参与一下慈善机构的管理、（如果有机会的话）做做其他公司的董事、（在雇主许可的前提下）从事一些自由职业，这些都可以确保你在你当前工作结束后仍能拥有自己的生活。

●Exercise. There is probably no greater investment you can make in your future than to remain physically fit. Swimming, walking or cycling (running is not good for the knees) several times a week will help you remain healthy and alert during and well beyond your working years.

●锻炼身体。也许在对未来进行的投资中，没有比保持身体健康更好的方式了。每周进行几次游泳、徒步行走或者骑车锻炼（跑步对膝盖不太好），有助于令你在退休前或退休后很长一段时间里保持健康和思维敏捷。

Exercise could also keep you looking younger while you are working, so that no one thinks of asking you to retire.

锻炼身体还能让你在工作时显得更年轻，这样就没人会考虑让你退休了。