Employee Monitoring During Remote Work: A Double-Edged Sword

The Prevalence and Impact of Employee Monitoring Software in Remote Work

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed the way we work, as remote work became the new normal for many companies. With employees no longer working in physical offices, monitoring software has become increasingly prevalent as a way for employers to keep track of their remote workforce. According to Resumebuilder.com’s survey of 1,000 business leaders, 90% now use some form of monitoring technology to supervise their remote employees.

This trend has resulted in debates about the effectiveness and impact of employee monitoring. On one hand, it is reported that employee monitoring software helps increase productivity levels, but on the other hand, its use can cause resentment and negatively impact employee loyalty. Moreover, as revealed by the same survey conducted by Resumebuilder.com, an alarming 75% of companies have fired employees based on information they found through the usage of monitoring software.

The New Normal of Increasingly Remote Work

Though calls to return to in-person work are becoming more pronounced lately, remote work continues to offer flexibility that many workers crave. A new analysis from Pew Research Center indicates that around 35% of people with remote jobs still work from home fulltime.

As for hybrid schedules which involve both remote and in-person work arrangements, Pew research shows a clear uptick in the percentage of people involved since January 2022. While it was at 35% then, it has risen to 41% over the period from January 2022 to February 2023. These numbers indicate that some amount of remote or hybrid work is gradually becoming more prevalent among workers.

The Downsides and Backfire Effects of Employee Monitoring

Moreover, Keystroke monitoring and video feeds are now standard in almost all remote companies surveyed by Resumebuilder.com. And it’s not only web browsing history that is monitored, employees are often required to be on a live, monitored video feed where the employer can keep an eye on them, even when they’re out of the office. Biometrics are also used to capture random screenshots and log keystrokes to ensure workers are always attending to their work.

However, these monitoring practices can lead to negative consequences as well. Many employees have expressed resentment regarding monitoring software which they perceive as excessive surveillance, feeling like their privacy is violated. This resentment can be counterproductive and result in significantly lower levels of employee productivity and loyalty.

Furthermore, some studies have shown that monitored workers tend to spend two to three hours of the workday nonproductively, which employers refer to as “time theft.” This lack of trust can backfire on employers as highly-productive employees may choose to leave if they feel overly surveilled.

The Future of Employee Monitoring

As hybrid workers become more confident in their ability to perform without oversight, as well as the possibility of their going back in-person gradually coming up on the horizon, employee monitoring software might become gradually obsolete. Furthermore, companies should ensure that transparency is at the core of their monitoring practices so that job applicants know what they’re signing up for before they accept a job offer.

But for now, employee monitoring certainly remains a double-edged sword in the world of remote work arrangements with its advantages and downsides. Companies should think critically about how much and what type of monitoring they carry out on remote employees and be aware of its potential negative impacts on worker productivity and loyalty before diving straight into it.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons