Employees are becoming increasingly anxious as they note their companies are monitoring their work from behind the scenes.
It’s no secret that many employers use automated or artificial intelligence tools to track where their employees are working, what they’re doing and even how productive they are.
In a new report from the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, more than two-thirds of 1,300 surveyed employees said they were being surveilled by their employers.
For those who were having work surveillance done, reports of anxiety, pressure to work faster than what was healthy or safe and workplace injuries were altogether higher.
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“This report is a glaring reminder of how far we’ve strayed from respecting workers’ rights. More and more companies are turning to intrusive monitoring technologies, and it’s no surprise workers are feeling the anxiety,” HR consultant Bryan Driscoll told Newsweek.
“This kind of oversight fosters distrust and ultimately hurts employee morale and productivity, leading to employees trying to show they’re busy instead of doing actual, productive work. Simply put, monitoring makes employees paranoid.”
For workers who said they were being electronically monitored “all the time,” 7 percent said they had experienced injuries requiring medical attention, compared to just 2 percent of employees who faced no monitoring.
While workers generally reported similar levels of surveillance no matter their education level, there was a difference in surveillance reporting among different races.
Black, Hispanic and other non-white workers reported higher incidents of electronic monitoring. While 65 percent of white workers said they were electronically monitored, 82 percent and 73 percent of Black and Hispanic workers said the same respectively.
“It’s also not a stretch to say this trend is growing,” Driscoll said. “Companies are increasingly justifying surveillance under the guise of performance management or security. But this is blatant power and control. Employers who rely on monitoring are sending the message they don’t trust their employees. If you don’t trust your employees, you haven’t done a good job hiring.”
Generally, information, transportation, mining and retail saw the highest frequencies of electronic monitoring, and larger employers were more likely to engage in some form of electronic surveillance.
Employees were generally divided on why their companies used the tracking technology on workers. While 42 percent said it was to protect worker health and safety, 38 percent said it helped recognize quality work, and 36 percent said it intended to help workers improve their performance.
Driscoll warned that for businesses engaging in these practices, it tends to lead to negative consequences.
“Anxiety, overwork, high turnover, and toxic work cultures are no way for a business to thrive,” Driscoll said. “Employees who feel like they’re constantly under scrutiny are less likely to take risks, think creatively, or feel valued. In the long run, this could lead to a more disengaged workforce across the board, and companies will feel the ripple effects in their bottom line.”
The surge in surveillance could also drive talent away from industries where it’s most prevalent, especially as younger workers increasingly prioritize their mental health and work-life balance.
“They won’t stick around in environments where they feel micromanaged and undervalued,” Driscoll said. “Ultimately, if a company thinks they can increase productivity from surveillance, they’ve already lost the battle for employee trust.”
