RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – Big brother today may be your boss monitoring you at your home office as the coronavirus drives millions of people to work remotely.
So warns tech news site Recode in an extensive look at employee monitoring software such as TeamViewer.
“My manager knows every single damn thing I do,” a worker told Recode. “I barely get to stand up and stretch, as opposed to when I am physically in the office. I feel like I have to constantly be in front of the computer and work because if not, either the TeamViewer logs me out for being idle, or my manager randomly sends a check-in email that I must reply to promptly.”
Writer Sara Morrison says some firms have “installed tracking software on those computers to supervise their employees at home as well as — if not better than — they do in the office. Meanwhile, you may have no idea that your employer is virtually looking over your shoulder.”
Morrison talks about TeamViewer, Slack, Zoom and more in the report.
“Employee tracking software has been around for years, but with so many more people working from home and many workplaces concerned that they won’t be as productive in their living rooms as they were in the office, some employers are turning to activity monitoring programs for the first time — as are their employees, whether they like it or not,” she wrote.
