Power, Loss, and the Stories We Tell

Xiǎojìng (pseudonym化名) had worked at a major foreign外国的 company for 7 years. When she heard that all offices in the Asia-Pacific region地区， 地带， 区域 were going to cut staff, she decided to start开动，着手 trying to conceive设想，以为.小静（ 化名 ）在一家外企大厂工作了 7 年，当听到亚太区域所有办公室都要减员的消息时，她决定开始备孕。

This practice做法 is called "strategic pregnancy怀孕" and is becoming increasingly popular in big-tech大科技公司 circles. Against the backdrop背景幕, 背景 of fierce激烈的 competition竞争 and the normal optimization最佳化, 最优化 of labor costs at big companies, whether to become pregnant怀孕的 and when to become pregnant怀孕的 have gradually become strategic decisions for women in the workplace.这种做法被称为 “ 战略性怀孕 ”，在大厂圈愈发流行。在竞争激烈、大厂人力成本常态优化的时代背景下，是否怀孕、何时怀孕，逐渐成为了职场女性的一种战略决策。

Xiǎojìng's original最初的 strategy策略 was to use pregnancy怀孕 to first get past the layoff裁员 window, receive maternity生育 benefits福利 and maternity生育 leave, but she did not expect料想，认为 that she would still be laid off during the breastfeeding哺乳 period. "I calculated计算， 推算 that the compensation补偿 was acceptable, so I signed征兆，迹象，病症. On the day of the layoff裁员, I packed my things and left directly," Xiǎojìng said. Although things did not go according符合 to the script脚本，剧本 she had imagined, what什么 made this "strategic" move举动 successful was that during the third period (breastfeeding哺乳 period), she received 2N severance compensation补偿, which, together with that month's salary and year-end年终 bonus奖金， 红利, totaled more than 600,000 yuan.小静原本的战略，是通过孕期先躲过裁员节点、拿到生育津贴和产假，但她没想到她依旧在哺乳期被裁了。“ 我算了一下赔偿还可以，就签字了，裁员当天就直接收拾东西走人了。” 小静提到。虽然没按照预想的剧本走，但这个 “ 战略 ” 举动成功的地方在于，她在第三期（ 哺乳期 ）拿到了 2N 的裁员补偿，加上当月的工资和年终奖，总共 60 多万。

This may look as if women who choose strategic pregnancy怀孕 are taking advantage优点， 优势 of companies, but in reality, if they did not choose to do so and were laid off directly, the label标签 "middle-aged中年, married, childless无儿女的" would make it significantly重要的 harder更难 for them to find their next job.这看起来像是战略性怀孕的女性薅了企业的羊毛，但实际上如果她们不选择这么做而是直接被裁，“ 中年已婚未育 ” 这个标签会使她们找下一份工作的难度显著上升。

In this situation情况, if they already had plans to have children孩子, pregnancy怀孕 would put them in "an invincible position职位." The best-case scenario剧情说明书，剧本 would be to survive活下来，继续存在 the layoffs裁员 and continue working, and even甚至 if they were laid off, they could receive decent像样的 compensation补偿, give birth with peace of mind, and then look for work more easily with the label标签 "has given规定的，特定的 birth."在这种情况下，如果本就有生育计划，怀孕会让她们立于 “ 不败之地 ”，最好的状况是躲过裁员继续工作，而即便被裁，也能拿一个不错的补偿，安心生育后，带着 “ 已育 ” 的标签也更好找工作。

In short, "pregnancy怀孕" has become a "strategic weapon" that middle-aged中年 women at big companies can能够 choose in the workplace, used to pursue追求 the maximum最大的 interests of themselves and their families within the scope（学科、活动、书籍等的）范围 of the law.总之，“ 怀孕 ” 成为了大厂中年女性在职场中可选择的一个 “ 战略武器 ”，用于在合法范围内追求个人及家庭的最大利益。

This weapon is being used by more and more people, and many big-tech大科技公司 employees have a visceral内脏的， 腑脏的 sense of it on social media platforms政纲，党纲，宣言: as soon as rumors传言 of layoffs裁员 spread传播，扩散 in the company, the number共计，达…之数 of pregnant怀孕的 women in the company cafeteria自助餐厅 visibly increases.这个武器被越来越多的启用，社媒平台上很多大厂人都有体感：只要公司传出裁员风声，公司食堂里的孕妇就肉眼可见的多了起来。

When scattered撒， 散播 individual个人 cases evolve进化 into a real and even甚至 widespread广泛传播的 workplace phenomenon现象, the layered层， 层次 motivations动力，积极性 hidden隐藏的 behind it deserve值得 to be reexamined复试. Zhīwēi spoke with several professional职业的 women who had experienced "strategic pregnancy怀孕," a senior HR manager at a big company, and a researcher at a population research institute研究所，学会，学院, in an attempt尝试， 试图， 努力 to show you the intertwined交织，纠缠 contradictions矛盾， 不一致 and helplessness无助 behind "strategic pregnancy怀孕."当零散的个例演变为一种真实存在甚至普遍铺开的职场现象，暗藏在背后的层层动因值得被重新审视。知危与 “ 战略性怀孕 ” 的几名职业女性、资深大厂 HR、人口研究机构研究员聊了聊，试图带你看见 “ 战略性怀孕 ” 背后交织的矛盾与无奈。

When netizens网民 discuss "strategic pregnancy怀孕," it is easy to interpret口译 it as people who had no intention of having children孩子 making a temporary decision to give birth in order to resist抵制 risks.网友们讨论 “ 战略性怀孕 ” 时，很容易理解为没有生育打算的人为了抵抗风险临时决定生孩子。

In reality, however, more often it is women who had already planned计划的 to have children孩子, who previously之前的 postponed "childbearing生育" again and again for career development, and who now, when forced强迫 to face career risks, move举动 their childbearing生育 plans to the top of the agenda议程.而现实情况里，更多时候是本就计划生育的女性，过去为了职业发展把 “ 生育 ” 一再延后，如今不得不面对职业风险的时候，把生育计划优先提上日程。

In fact, most women in their 20s who are in the rising phase阶段 of their careers rarely很少 give priority先，前 to "childbearing生育."其实，大部分 20 多岁处于职业上升期的女性，很少优先考虑 “ 生育 ”。

Ruolin若琳 (pseudonym化名), 33, has worked at major internet companies for a long time, and her child just turned two this year. She told Zhīwēi: "Although we had always been preparing to have a child, I think one of the less correct decisions I have made in my life is that my husband and I did not just have the child while we were in graduate研究生的 v. 毕业 n. school. If we had had the child then, it would not have delayed our career development at all."33 岁的若琳（ 化名 ），一直在互联网大厂工作，今年小孩刚满两岁。她对知危说：“ 虽然一直准备要小孩，但是我觉得我人生中做的比较不正确的一个决定是，我和先生没有在读研究生的时候直接把小孩生了。如果那时候生，完全不会耽误事业的发展。”

Xiaojing小静 also mentioned提到的 to Zhīwēi: "Before the major foreign外国的 company, my previous之前的 job was at an internet company. At that time I was in my 20s, my personal growth curve at work was very steep, and I wanted to strive努力，奋斗，力求 harder更难 for my career."小静也向知危提到：“ 外企大厂之前，我上一份工作是在互联网公司，那时候 20 多岁，工作上的个人成长曲线很陡峭，想多拼一下事业。”

When they are young, choosing not to become pregnant怀孕的 is a strategy策略 for women in the workplace, and the working model of major tech companies further进一步 amplifies放大， 增强 this strategic trade-off权衡，交易: highly competitive竞争的 total compensation补偿 packages包裹，包装, stock股票 incentives刺激, clear promotion晋升 channels by job level, and a comprehensive综合的，全面的 training system mean that once a woman loses such a job because of pregnancy怀孕 or has her promotion晋升 path interrupted打断， 中止, the corresponding相应的 cost is especially high.在年轻时，职场女性选择不怀孕是一种战略，而大厂的工作模式进一步放大了这种战略权衡：极具竞争力的总包薪资、股票激励、清晰的职级晋升通道与完善的培训体系，导致一旦因怀孕失去这份工作或是让晋升路径中断，对应的成本会格外高昂。

This is in fact a calculation计算 problem. Zou Jiacen, a researcher at the YuWa Population Research think tank坦克, explained to Zhīwēi: "Looking at it more deeply, this is the inevitable不可避免的 result of risks being pressed出版社 onto individual个人 women of childbearing生育 age. The time cost of childbearing生育 is mainly总管道，干线 borne by women, and the corresponding相应的 opportunity cost causes a reduction in women's income and limits their career development. Moreover而且， 再者， 此外, society lacks缺乏 a sound social sharing mechanism机制, which continuously suppresses镇压，压制 the willingness to have children孩子. At a time when the risk of unemployment失业 has risen markedly明显地, no longer expecting怀孕的 career returns but instead having the child first and taking maternity生育 leave first is an objectively客观地 rational理性的 decision for ordinary people who have childbearing生育 plans."这其实是一道计算题，育娲人口研究智库的研究员邹佳岑向知危解释道：“ 往深一层看，这是风险压在育龄女性个人身上的必然结果。生育的时间成本主要由女性承担，相应的机会成本造成女性收入缩减、职业发展受限，且社会缺乏完善的社会分摊机制，持续抑制了生育意愿。在失业风险明显上升的当下，不再期待事业回报而是先把孩子生了、把产假休了，是有生育计划的普通人的客观理性决策。”

Xiaojing小静 mentioned提到的 that the motivation动力，积极性 behind her "strategic pregnancy怀孕" was that she finally realized her leader did not recognize认可 the value价值 of her position职位 at all. She told us: "The leader had already wanted to eliminate消除 this HC before I took the role, and several predecessors前辈，前任者 before me were in the same situation情况, so no matter事情 how well I did, it was hard艰难 for him to acknowledge承认 my work results. I am also a super endurer, and after he found he could not drive me away, he began to target目标 v. 把…作为目标 me personally even甚至 more. Either he would not give me projects项目, or he would give me projects项目 but no support支持, or he would arrange安排， 准备 his own people to erode my work results, and so on."小静就提到，她 “ 战略性孕 ” 的动机，是她终于意识到她的领导根本不认可她所在岗位的存在价值。她告诉我们：“ 领导在我之前的前几任时就已经想把这个 HC 取消了，所以无论我做的多好，他都很难认可我的工作成果。我这人又是超级忍者，他发现赶不走我之后，便开始更加针对我个人。要不就是不给我项目做，要不就是给了项目但不给支持，再或者安排他的人蚕食我的工作成果等等。”

In the process过程 of gradually being sidelined副业, 边界线, Xiaojing found that her few project项目 results were "collectivized," while when there were flaws缺点，瑕疵, the problems were "individualized." Over超过 time, she believed her competitiveness would only become lower and lower. But she had already worked there for 7 years, and considering that she herself also had plans to have a child, being pregnant怀孕的 while employed would certainly provide more security保障, and considering future development, whether she was ultimately最终的 laid off or reemployed, it would be more advantageous有利的，有助的. Therefore因此, as soon as she heard rumors传言 of layoffs裁员, Xiaojing immediately decided to prepare for pregnancy怀孕.在慢慢被架空的过程中，小静发现自己为数不多的项目成果被 “ 大家化 ”，做的有瑕疵的时候问题却被 “ 个人化 ”，长此以往，她认为自己的竞争力会越来越低。但已经干了 7 年，考虑到自己本身也有生孩子的计划，肯定是在职怀孕更有保障，而且考虑到未来的发展，无论是最终被裁还是再就业，都更有利。于是，一听到裁员风声，小静立即决定备孕。

"Do the right thing at the right time." When applied应用 to childbirth分娩 for women in the workplace, the timing is either when one has already checked核实 out, or during a career bottleneck瓶颈 period, or before a layoff裁员. At this time, whether one leaves or stays, pregnancy怀孕 can能够 maximize取最大值, 最佳化 the economic经济的 benefits福利.“ 合适的时间做合适的事情 ”，这句话放在职场女性的生育上，时间点要么是躺平了，要么是职业瓶颈期，要么是裁员前。在这个时候，无论走或者留，怀孕都能把经济效益最大化。

After Ruolin transferred to a new business department, she found that there was not much room to accomplish实现 anything on the new business line加衬里于, and gradually the whole team协作，合作 was checking检查 out. Since the project项目 as a whole did not have much room for development and she also had plans to have a child, she might as well go along with the situation情况 and have the child. And what什么 Ruolin considered "strategy策略" was how to fight for more benefits福利 for herself when she decided to leave.若琳是在转岗到新的业务部门后，发现新业务线上能做事的空间不大，慢慢地整个团队都在躺平。既然整个项目的发展空间不大，自己也有生育的打算，不如顺势把小孩生了。而若琳认为所谓 “ 战略 ”，是决定要走的时候怎么样给自己争取更多的利益。

Ruolin若琳 was in management管理 at her previous之前的 company, and her job level was relatively相对地 high, so when negotiating谈判，交涉，议定 with HR, she could "talk very proactively主动地." "You can能够 fight for a more suitable opportunity for yourself to leave, and at a suitable time to leave, fight for more '+1.' For example, if HR wants to let me go with low performance绩效, then they would have to keep paying me for another six months, and then my length长度 of service would be even甚至 longer, and by that time the company would have to pay more, so it would be better to let me go now. So after maternity生育 leave, I decided not to drag拖累 it out anymore and to take the big package补偿方案 and leave. I pulled the HR people into a group chat, and after discussing stock股票 options选择，取舍, how to request leave before departure, how performance绩效 participation参加，参与 would work, and so on, the final 'big package补偿方案' was six figures数字."若琳在前司是管理层，职级相对来说比较高，所以在和 HR 谈判的时候可以 “ 聊的很主动 ”。“ 你可以给自己争取更合适走的机会，以及在合适走的时机里，争取更多的‘+1’。比如说 HR 想以低绩效开走我，那还要再多养我半年，那工龄就更长了，到时候公司赔的要更多，不如就现在开走。所以休完产假我就决定不耗了，拿大礼包走人。跟 HR 们拉了一个群，聊完股票期权、离职前假怎么请、绩效参与的方式这些，最终 ‘ 大礼包 ’ 有六位数。”

There is an inherent固有的 tension紧张 between当中，中间 companies and the childbirth分娩 of employed women.企业与在职女性的生育，天然是有些对立的。

Population researcher Zou Jiacen pointed out to Zhiwei: "The goal of a company is to pursue追求 profit. Pregnant怀孕的 and postpartum employees more or less bring visible and hidden隐藏的 impacts影响 on a company's operations运营 and efficiency效率, and even甚至 direct economic经济的 subsidies补助 cannot不能 completely eliminate消除 this. In academia学术界, this is called the 'motherhood母亲身份 penalty惩罚.'"人口研究员邹佳岑向知危指出：“ 企业的目标是追求利润，孕产员工对企业的运转和效率或多或少会带来显性和隐性影响，即便有直接经济补贴，也无法完全消除。这在学术上被称之为 ‘ 母职惩罚 ’。”

Zou Jiacen further进一步 explained: "Drawing on multiple复合的 studies, in China, each child a woman gives birth to causes the corresponding相应的 woman's wage rate比率 (referring to the wage compensation补偿 a worker receives per unit of time) to drop by 12% to 17%. Numerous无数的 international studies also show that childbirth分娩 and child-rearing育儿 can能够 explain most of the gender性别 income gap差距, and there is basically no controversy争议 on this point in academia学术界. The motherhood母亲身份 penalty惩罚 suffered by highly skilled women is even甚至 more prominent突出的. Beyond超出 wage income, in terms of non-economic costs such as time, opportunities, and health, due to the lack缺少 of a sound social cost-sharing成本分担 mechanism机制, the more they are among the most outstanding women in big tech companies, the heavier更沉重 the cost of childbirth分娩 they individually特殊的 perceive."邹佳岑进一步解释道：“ 综合多项研究，在中国每生一个孩子，就会导致对应那名女性工资率 （ 指单位时间内劳动者获得的工资报酬 ）下降 12% 到 17%，国际上众多研究也表明，生育和养育可以解释大部分性别收入差距，这一点在学术界基本没有争议。而高技能女性遭受的母职惩罚更为突出，不止是工资收入，在时间、机会、健康等非经济成本方面，由于缺乏完善的社会分摊机制，越是大厂里最优秀的那批女性，她们个体感知到的生育代价越重。”

Thus, the so-called "strategic pregnancy怀孕" is less a strategy策略 than a compromise妥协.于是，所谓的 “ 战略性怀孕，与其说战略，不如说是一种妥协。

But the rules规则 of big tech companies have always been survival幸存 of the fittest. Internet buzzwords such as 996 and involution内卷 are concrete具体的 manifestations显示, 表现 of this elimination消除，淘汰 mechanism机制. The operation运算 of this system actually finds it very hard艰难 to tolerate an individual's "absence缺席， 不在" for as short as a few months or as long as a year. As a saying inside big tech companies goes: if you want to have a child, you won't get a share of promotions促销 or pay raises提出，发起，发出 within three years.但大厂的规则一直都是优胜劣汰，996、内卷等网络热词，都是这种淘汰机制的具象，这套系统的运转，其实很难容得下一个个体短则几个月、长则一年的 “ 缺席 ”。正如大厂里有一句话是：你想生孩子，三年内晋升涨薪都没你的份了。

A senior HR professional职业的 at a major tech company, Yu Xiang (pseudonym化名), told Zhiwei: "Actually, what什么 everyone now calls normalized归一化 layoffs裁员, we generally call 'replacement代替.' It depends on the project's output产量 cycle周期, such as three months or half a year. If the person's ability is insufficient不足的, we need to replace把...放回原处 them with someone more capable有能力的.资深大厂 HR 于想（ 化名 ）对知危提到：“ 其实现在大家说的常态化裁员，我们一般叫 ‘ 汰换 ’。具体要看项目的产出周期，比如三个月或者半年，如果这个人能力不行就要换能力更强的人。但这两年战略性怀孕一般都发生在公司的 ‘ 组织性裁员 ’ 上，在组织性裁员中被裁的人，有时候不是能力问题，只是业务或者组织变换的问题，所以大家也越来越能理解怀孕这种 ‘ 自保 ’ 的方式。”

However, in specific具体的 company operations运营, few people talk about 'human feelings' or 'understanding,' and real workplace gender性别 discrimination歧视 is still hard艰难 to ignore忽视.只不过，在具体的公司业务上，很少有人讲 “ 人情 ”、讲 “ 理解 ”，真实的职场性别歧视依然很难被忽视。

A woman who has 'not had children孩子' almost certainly has to face questions问，询问，讯问 about 'marriage and having children孩子' in a workplace interview面试.一位 “ 未育 ” 的女性，在职场面试中几乎一定要面对关于 “ 结婚生小孩 ” 的相关拷问。

Yu Xiang explained: "For the business, an employee's childbirth分娩 plans are very important; this is almost a must-ask question问，询问，讯问. And the higher the salary, the higher the landing cost of the personnel人事部门 adaptation改编版 cycle周期 and learning cycle周期. For example, if we hire a woman with an annual每年的，一年一次的 n. 年 salary of 1 million, she works for half a year and gets the work in order, and has just begun to deliver递送 the value价值 of 1 million, and then she gets pregnant怀孕的—that is a loss for the company. Especially in the past two years, the costs of various各种各样的， 不同的 business lines加衬里于 at major tech companies have been tightened（使）变紧 very hard艰难, and everyone has to consider maximizing取最大值, 最佳化 efficiency效率. It is cruel and also very real."于想解释道：“ 对业务来说，员工生育的安排非常重要，这几乎是必须问的问题。并且薪酬越高，人员适应周期和学习周期的落地成本就越高。比如招一个年薪 100 万的女生进来，干了半年理顺好了工作，刚刚开始发挥 100 万的价值，她如果怀孕了，那对公司来说是吃亏的，特别是这两年，大厂各个业务线的成本都缩得很紧，都要考虑效益最大化的问题，很残忍也很现实。”

In summary总结, Yu Xiang said that from the HR perspective视角, married women without children孩子 are the highest risk. Therefore因此, when ability and level are similar类似的, if there are two people in the interview面试 process过程, one unmarried without children孩子 and one married without children孩子, the business side will definitely肯定 choose the unmarried one without children孩子.总而言之，于想表示，在 HR 的角度上，已婚未育的女性风险最大，所以在能力、水平方面都差不多的情况下，如果面试流程里有两个人，一个是未婚未育，一个是已婚未育，业务肯定会选择未婚未育的。

She also mentioned提到的: "Actually, even甚至 now, some business bosses will directly tell HR that a certain project项目 'only wants men.' But when major tech companies encounter遭遇 this situation情况, HR will still try to communicate通讯， 交际， 交流 with the business several rounds, saying that this is not diverse各种各样的 and inclusive包括的 and that this is workplace discrimination歧视. However, what什么 is helpless is that the final hiring authority权威 does not rest with HR; it still depends on the business leader's decision."她还提到：“ 其实到现在也会有业务老板会直接跟 HR 说某个项目‘ 只要男的 ’，但是大厂里遇到这种情况 HR 还是会尽量与业务沟通几轮，说这样不能多元兼容、这样有职场歧视。只不过，无奈的是最终的用人权不在 HR 身上，还是要看业务 Leader 的决定。”

Employees want certainty确实性，确信，确实, and companies and business leaders also want a sense of security保障. All of the above has made the decision to become pregnant怀孕的 something that has to be "strategic."员工想要确定性，企业和业务负责人也想要安全感，以上这些，都让怀孕这个决定变得不得不 “ 战略 ”。

Emma (pseudonym化名) is also one of those engaged从事 in "strategic pregnancy怀孕." She candidly公正的 told Zhiwei: "If I were asked now to choose again whether to have a strategic pregnancy怀孕, I would not do it. I should应该 have made a clean break back then. Although I am receiving the subsidy补助 and taking maternity生育 leave on time, every day of just hanging on there is very hard艰难 to endure忍受."Emma（ 化名 ）也是 “ 战略性怀孕 ” 中的一员，她向知危坦言：“ 如果现在再让我选择要不要战略性怀孕，我不会这样做，当时应该当断则断。虽然补贴是拿着的，产假也是按时休，但是苟在那里的每一天都很难熬。”

"In a high-pressure高压 environment环境, neither body物体 nor mind is healthy, and this will definitely肯定 affect the child. For example, I have found that my child now particularly特称的 lacks缺乏 a sense of security保障, especially needing someone beside them when sleeping. My own analysis分析， 分析报告 is that this may have something to do with the fact that I worried too much during pregnancy怀孕," Emma added.“ 在高压的环境里，身心都不健康，这肯定会影响到小孩。比如我发现我家小孩现在特别缺乏安全感，尤其睡觉的时候身边要有人，我自己分析，可能跟我孕期时候思虑太多也有一些关系。” Emma 补充道。

Emma said that as her pregnancy怀孕 progressed, she could clearly feel摸起来 more and more disapproval不赞成 and deliberate故意的 nitpicking挑剔 from her leader. Emma recalled回忆起，想起: "Later on, even甚至 if I wrote a wrong character角色 or punctuation mark in the weekly report传说，议论, he would pick it out and scold me for it. I think he probably wanted to force强迫 me to resign辞职."Emma 表示，随着自己孕期月龄增大，能明显感觉到领导的否定和刻意刁难越来越多。Emma 回忆到：“ 到后面，哪怕是周报里写错一个字、一个标点他也会挑出来数落。我觉得他应该是想逼我自己辞职。”

In the face of her leader's deliberate故意的 nitpicking挑剔, Emma, who was pregnant怀孕的, could only choose to work harder更难 and more seriously than before in order to keep her job and save a bit more money for her child. She would carefully list a detailed琐碎，小事 plan of each day's work summary总结 and the next day's tasks, always maintaining维持 a cautious谨慎的 working mode. Apart from the necessary prenatal checkup leave, she rarely很少 took leave even甚至 when feeling感觉 unwell不舒服的, and persisted持续，存留 in this way方式 until just before her formal正规的 maternity生育 leave.面对领导的刻意刁难，正处于孕期的 Emma 为了能保住工作、多给小孩攒点钱，只能选择比往日更努力更认真。她会仔仔细细把每天的工作总结和第二天要做的工作列成详细的计划，一直保持着谨慎的工作模式。除了必要的产检假，即使身体不适也很少请假，一直这样坚持到了正式的产假前。

But in the year-end年终 performance绩效 review, Emma did not even甚至 receive the interview面试 notice she normally should应该 have received; she only received a notice from her leader saying "log航海日志 in and check检查 it yourself." Emma said that in previous之前的 years, even甚至 her worst performance绩效 rating等级， 品级， 评定结果 had been B+, but in the year she was pregnant怀孕的, her leader gave her a B.但在年终的绩效考核上，Emma 甚至没收到正常应该有的面谈通知，只是收到了领导的通知说 “ 自己登上看 ”。Emma 表示往年的绩效最差的时候也是 B+，但是怀孕的那年，领导给她打了 B。

HR Yu Xiang mentioned提到的 that during pregnancy怀孕 and the stage of returning to work after maternity生育 leave, working mothers are easily labeled标签，标记，符号 vt. 贴 in advance as "not focused聚焦 on work," which is what什么 companies call the engagement婚约 issue问题. Mothers who want to stay on the big-tech大科技公司 track追踪 n. 轨迹，踪迹 and maintain保持 their original最初的 working state often have to put in more effort than others and become more intensely强烈地 competitive竞争的.HR 于想提到，孕期、产假结束重返岗位的阶段，职场妈妈很容易被先入为主地贴上 “ 精力不在工作上 ” 的标签，也就是企业口中的投入度问题。想要继续留在大厂赛道、维持原有工作状态的母亲，往往只能比其他人付出更多，变得更卷。

To maintain保持 her workplace competitiveness, before her strategic pregnancy怀孕, Xiaojing studied for an MBA while working, obtained通用， 流行 an intermediate中间体 economist经济学者 certificate, and explored探讨 part-time兼职的 work writing planning proposals.小静为了保持自己的职场竞争力，在战略性怀孕之前，还边工边读了 MBA、考了一个中级经济师的证书，并且摸索着写策划方案的兼职。

After the breastfeeding哺乳 period, Xiaojing still wanted to spend more time with her child, and considering this year's employment就业 pressure大气压力, she chose to lie low for another year. At the same time, Xiaojing also said that in the third month of unemployment失业, she found that the salaries of jobs recommended推荐 to her on Boss Zhipin had changed from 25-35k to 15-25k, in the sixth month to 8-12k, and later positions安放 n. 位置 of 4-6k appeared.哺乳期过后，小静还想多陪伴孩子，并且考虑到今年的就业压力，她选择再蛰伏一年。与此同时，小静也表示，在失业的第三个月，她发现 Boss 直聘上给她推荐的岗位薪资从 25-35k 变成了 15 到 25k，第六个月变成了 8-12k，后来出现了 4-6k 的岗。

In response回应, researcher Zou Jiacen said: "The more a society suffers from low fertility多产，肥沃, the less tolerance it has for children孩子 and children's parents. At the same time, the decline下降 in the birth population affects demand要求，需要 and expectations期望; companies dare勇敢，敢于做 not invest投资， 投入, the industry enters a sustained保持， 使持续下去 contraction收缩, and companies shift转移注意力 from expansion扩张 that opens up territory领域，领土 to competition竞争 over超过 shrinking缩减，缩小 stock股票, thereby intensifying增强， 加剧 workplace involution内卷. And this involution内卷 further进一步 worsens the living space of people who cannot不能 devote投入 all their time to work, namely: women during pregnancy怀孕 and childbirth分娩, and people who need to leave work early（稻麦等的）穗 to care for children孩子."对此，研究员邹佳岑表示：“ 越是少子化的社会，对孩子、孩子父母的包容度就会越差。同时，出生人口下滑会影响需求和预期，企业不敢投资，行业进入持续性收缩，企业就从开疆辟土的扩张变成萎缩存量的争夺，从而加剧职场内卷。而这种内卷还会进一步恶化不能把全部时间押在工作上的人的生存空间，也就是：孕产期女性、需要早点下班照顾孩子的人。”

She concluded结束， 终了 vt. 推断出: "So the decline下降 in inclusiveness at big companies is not a regression in attitudes态度， 看法, but a symptom症状 of a deteriorating恶化 competitive竞争的 structure. This is also why merely仅仅， 只不过 advocating拥护 n. 辩护律师 corporate法人团体的， 公司的 tolerance will not help. Even甚至 if policies are relatively相对地 adequate足够的, in highly competitive竞争的 industries or companies, this kind of squeeze压榨 will inevitably不可避免地 exist—not only targeting目标 v. 把…作为目标 women of childbearing生育 age, but equally affecting everyone who pursues追求 a better work-life balance. The steeper the promotion晋升 ladder and the more intensive密集的 the performance绩效 assessments评估，评价 in an organization, the more it demands要求，需要 employees devote投入 an absolutely当然 larger更大的 share of their energy."她总结道：“ 所以大厂包容度下降不是观念倒退，而是竞争结构恶化的症状，这也是为什么只靠倡导企业宽容不会有用。即使政策比较到位，在高竞争的行业或者公司里，这种挤压也肯定会存在，不止针对育龄女性，对所有更追求工作与生活平衡的人都是一样。越是晋升通道陡峭、考核密集的组织，越需要员工付出更绝对占比的精力。”

At this point, it is difficult难以满足的 to simply attribute归因于 the conflict冲突 to any one party: whether it is women who proactively主动地 adjust适应 vt. 调整，调节 their timing for childbearing生育, or companies that continuously assess对估价 employment就业 risks. Individuals特殊的' trade-offs权衡，交易 and companies' considerations of risk are, in essence本质，本体, both wrapped within the same set集（合） of workplace rules规则 and reproductive support支持 systems.说到这儿，我们很难简单把矛盾归咎于任何一方：无论是主动调整生育时间的女性，还是持续评估用工风险的企业。个体的权衡、企业对风险的考量，本质上都被包裹在同一套职场规则与生育支持体系里。

As natural consumers消费者，用户, people have enormous巨大的 public value价值 to society. After all, the entire economy经济 of society is nothing more than meeting people's consumption消耗 needs by providing products or services.人作为天然的消费者，对社会有着巨大的公共价值，毕竟整个社会的经济，无非就是通过提供产品或服务的方式去满足人的消费需求。

Correspondingly相应的， 符合的, childbearing生育 should应该 also receive adequate足够的 attention, and a new cost-sharing成本分担 mechanism机制 needs to be established使…被接受 at the institutional level. This is a complex由许多部分组成的，复合的 public issue问题, and feasible可行的 solutions解决，解决方法 are still being explored探讨 to this day.而相应地，生育也理应受到足够的重视，需要在制度层面搭建新的成本分担机制。这是一道复杂的公共议题，可行的解决方案，至今仍在探索之中。

Researchers研究人员 at the YuWa Population Research think tank坦克 believe that making parenting a "paid job" and ensuring that the income received by families raising抚养 children孩子 is stable稳定的，不变的 and predictable is the key to solving the problem.育娲人口研究智库的研究员们认为，让养育成为 “ 有收入的工作 ”，并确保养育家庭获得的收入是稳定和可预期的，是解决问题的关键。

Beyond超出 the anxiety焦虑, helplessness无助, and sense of having no choice选择, in the course of conversations with several women who have already become mothers, they invariably不变地，永恒地 shared some of the joys of raising抚养 children孩子.除了那些焦虑、无奈和迫不得已，在与几名已经成为妈妈的女性交谈的过程中，她们不约而同地分享到了一些养育小孩的幸福。

Ruolin若琳 gave a very vivid生动的 example. She said: "Have you ever played nurture-style games? Like Pokémon or Miracle奇迹 Nikki—the planners规划师 of each game give you positive积极的 feedback at different points, and the most密集 is on the first day you download the game. But I think the positive积极的 feedback from raising抚养 a child is even甚至 more密集, especially before the age of two, sometimes measured措施 in half-days or even甚至 hours. From a mother's perspective视角, receiving these is actually a very happy thing."若琳举了一个很生动的例子，她说：“ 你有玩过养成系游戏吗？比如宝可梦或者奇迹暖暖，每个游戏的策划都会在不同节点给你正反馈，最密集的是你下载游戏的第一天。但我觉得养小孩的正反馈是更密集的，特别是两岁以前，有时候是以半天甚至小时为维度的，在母亲的角度接受这些其实是很开心的事情。”

Xiaojing小静 also mentioned提到的: "Sometimes when the child goes out to play with family members, as soon as they come back they look for me and throw themselves into my arms装备，武装. That feeling感觉 of being needed and depended on is very happy."小静也提到：“ 小朋友有时候跟家里人出去玩，一回来就找我，扑倒我的怀里，那种被需要和被依赖的感觉是很幸福的。”

Setting集（合） aside those rational理性的 decisions and considerations, in similar类似的 moments and details琐碎，小事, the matter事情 of having children孩子 finally returns to being a normal, ordinary life choice选择.抛开那些理性的决策和考量，在类似的时刻和细节里，生育这件事才终于回归到了一个正常、平凡的生命选择。

As an "experience" in a person's life, having children孩子 should应该 be something one can能够 freely choose, but the work and economic经济的 pressures大气压力 of modern society clearly prevent people from making free choices入选者 adj. 优等的, giving rise to young people's "strategic non-pregnancy" and middle-aged中年 people's "strategic pregnancy怀孕."生育作为人生命中的一种 “ 体验 ”，它本应是可以自由选择的，但现代社会的工作和经济压力，让人们显然无法做出自由选择，衍生出了年轻人的 “ 战略性不怀孕 ” 和中年人的 “ 战略性怀孕 ”。

Essentially必须的, this is because society's recognition认出，识别 of the value价值 of "having children孩子" is insufficient不足的. As Zou Jiacen said, society first needs to recognize认可 the effort and contribution贡献 of "raising抚养 a family" and provide enough support支持.本质上，这是社会对 “ 生育 ” 这件事的价值的认可度不足，正如邹佳岑所说，社会需要先认可 “ 养育家庭 ” 这件事的付出与贡献，并给予足够多的支持。

Perhaps only by reshaping改造, 再成形 "human value价值," recognizing认出， 识别 that being alive itself is valuable贵重物品，财宝, and truly understanding that "people" are the purpose rather than the means of economic经济的 and social development, can能够 the problem be readily乐意地， 欣然地 solved.或许，重塑 “ 人的价值 ”，认同人活着本身就是价值，真正认识到 “ 人 ” 是经济社会发展的目的而非手段时，问题才能迎刃而解。

撰文：闹米

编辑：大饼

设计：萱萱

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