HOUSTON — Axios is reporting more employers are digitally spying on employees, especially white-collar workers.
The increase started during the pandemic when bosses got nervous about people working remotely. In a recent interview, the CEO of Microsoft called it “productivity paranoia,” pointing out that while bosses worried about workers getting enough done, the actual workers thought they were doing so much they were getting burned out.
Thanks to this productivity paranoia the number of employers using worker surveillance has drastically increased. According to the Wall Street Journal, two-thirds of medium to large companies do this. So, what does this surveillance involve? Experts say it can be everything from tracking your every keystroke and mouse click, to taking screen grabs of your monitor.
Critics who call this digital spying 'bossware' point out that this invasion of privacy may not actually produce results. According to the Wall Street Journal, there is no independent peer-reviewed research that shows using digital surveillance on workers increases productivity. Workers may not have much choice. Experts predict that employers may make this kind of spying mandatory for anyone working from home.