Some have implemented monitoring systems to catch laggard workers, but employees quickly found ways to circumvent such surveillance.
A new generation of tools is on the market, and they are much more challenging to cheat.
Details about the event were scant–it is unclear if these employees were even working remotely.
However, it’s safe to assume that Wells Fargo used an employee monitoring system to pinpoint the slackers.
Electronic worker surveillance systems became almost mainstream among companies post-pandemic.
Gartner notes that nearly 50 percent of companiesreportedusing them last year.
These tools use machine learning toidentifyrepetitive cursor presses or irregular patterns in an employee’s computer activity.
Others can scrape screen images to check whether screen activity changes as the mouse moves.
A common cheat is mouse jigglers.
These devices are very easily detected.
Even rudimentary monitoring software can identify when unauthorized USB devices like physical mouse jigglers are connected to company computers.
If the company has a policy against installing outside equipment, that could lead to disciplinary action.
These new detection systems are far more advanced, though.
Some employees have also used PowerPoint presentations or slideshows to keep their computers active.
Some systems evenrequireemployees to respond to random alerts, regardless of mouse activity.
Many corporate executives arewell awareof this and struggle with where to draw the line.
Furthermore, research has shown that excessive use of these systems oftenbackfireson firms.
So, it’s going to be a struggle for years to come.
