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But ultimately, many economists say, Vermont — and the country as a whole — will simply need more workers.
但许多经济学家表示，佛蒙特州，乃至整个美国，最终需要的还是更多的工人。
Some could come from the existing population, through companies’ efforts to tap into new labor pools and through government efforts to address larger issues like the opioid crisis, which has sidelined hundreds of thousands of working-age Americans.
其中一些工人可能来自现有人口，公司可以利用新的劳动力储备，政府也可以解决阿片类药物危机等更广泛的问题，阿片类药物滥用已使数十万劳动年龄的美国人退出了劳动力大军。
Not all economists think aging demographics are likely to drive a national labor shortage.
并不是所有的经济学家都认为人口老龄化可能会导致全国劳动力短缺。
The ranks of people in their prime working years was stagnant for years before the pandemic, but labor was often plentiful, said Adam Ozimek, the chief economist at Economic Innovation Group, a bipartisan public policy organization.
经济创新集团（一个两党都支持的公共政策组织）的首席经济学家亚当·奥齐梅克说，在疫情爆发之前的数年里，处于最佳工作年龄段的人群数量一直处于停滞状态，但劳动力往往很充足。
Increased immigration, he added, would add to the demand as well as supply. Still, many economists argue that immigrants will be an important part of the solution, especially in fields, like elder care, that are rapidly growing and hard to automate.
他补充说，移民增加不仅会增加供应，也会增加需求。尽管如此，许多经济学家认为，移民将是解决问题的重要一环，特别是在老人护理等领域，这些领域的需求增长迅速，而且很难实现自动化。
“We need to start looking at immigrants as a strategic resource, incredibly valuable parts of the economy,” said Ron Hetrick, senior labor economist at Lightcast, a labor market data firm.
“我们需要开始把移民视为一种战略资源，是经济中极具价值的部分。”劳动力市场数据公司Lightcast的高级劳动力经济学家罗恩·赫特里克说。
Kevin Chu has spent the past several months traveling around Vermont speaking to local business groups, elected officials, nonprofit organizations and pretty much anyone else who would listen. His message: Vermont needs more people.
在过去的几个月里，凯文·朱一直在佛蒙特州四处游说，与当地商业团体、民选官员、非营利组织等几乎所有愿意倾听的人交谈。他传达的信息是佛蒙特州需要更多的人。
Mr. Chu is the executive director of the Vermont Futures Project, a nonprofit organization, backed by the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, that sees the worker shortage as an imminent, long-term threat to the state’s economy.
朱是非营利性组织“佛蒙特未来项目”的执行董事，该组织由佛蒙特商会支持，认为劳动力短缺是该州经济面临的一个迫在眉睫的长期威胁。
Mr. Chu grew up in Vermont after his parents immigrated from China in the mid-1980s, part of a wave of immigrants — many of them refugees — who came to the state during that period.
朱在佛蒙特州长大，他的父母在20世纪80年代中期从中国移民到佛蒙特州，那段时期佛蒙特州出现了一股移民潮，其中许多人是难民。
He recalls attending Burlington High School at a time when it flew the flag of its students’ home countries, dozens in all. “I feel like I got a glimpse of what Vermont could be,” he said.
他回忆起上伯灵顿高中时的情景，当时学校里悬挂着学生们祖国的国旗，总共有几十个国家。“我感觉我从中瞥见了佛蒙特州未来可能的样子。”他说。
Mr. Chu’s message has resonated with business leaders and state officials, but it has been a tougher sell with the population as a whole.
朱传达的信息在商界领袖和政府官员中引起了共鸣，但在全体民众中却更难被接受。
A recent poll found that a plurality — but not a majority — of Vermonters supported increasing the population. The Futures Project has set a goal of increasing the population to 802,000 by 2035, from fewer than 650,000 today.
最近的一项民意调查发现，多数--但不是过半数--佛蒙特州人支持增加人口。“未来项目”的目标是到2035年，将人口从目前的不到65万人增加到80.2万人。
That would also help bring down Vermont’s median age to 40, from 42.7. The state has a long way to go: Vermont added just 92 people from 2021 to 2022.
这也有助于将佛蒙特州的年龄中值从42.7岁降至40岁。佛蒙特州还有很长的路要走：从2021年到2022年，佛蒙特州的新增人口只有92人。
