Employers are tracking their remote workers with sinister productivity tracking tools that monitor employee activity. This cannot end well.
Published in · 12 min read · Mar 4, 2024
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Summary: A growing number of employers are using productivity tracking software to monitor the activity of employees. This tracking of remote workers is invasive and demeaning. Employees risk being embarrassed for what is on their screen and worse, reduced pay based on the tracking tools. The practice reflects a lack of trust.
I was saddened and alarmed to see a NY Times article that discussed tracking remote workers. In The Rise of the Worker Productivity Score, Jodi Kantor and Arya Sundaram share some insights into the growing practice of tracking employee activities. (If you would rather listen than read, check out the NY Times Daily Podcast with Jodi Kantor).
The article and podcast describe the practices that many employers are using to monitor their employees. The tools are becoming more popular as more and more employees are tracking remote workers.
The tools are called productivity trackers and they run on the employee’s computer and monitor activity. This includes keystrokes and mouse movements. Some also take screenshots to record what the employee is viewing and…
