--- title: Employers are spying on workers… to their own detriment - The Hustle description: Workplace surveillance has crept into employees’ homes with the rise of remote work. Employees, unsurprisingly, don’t love it. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/817249098-News-Brief_2021-12-14T020050.151Z.webp --- # Employers are spying on workers… to their own detriment ![Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Juliet Bennett Rylah](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah) [Juliet Bennett Rylah Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/JBRylah) Published: December 14, 2021 Updated: October 11, 2023 As remote work rose amid the pandemic, many employers began trying to monitor workers in their homes. A new report indicates that — unsurprisingly — this does not improve morale. ![Employers are spying on workers… to their own detriment](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/817249098-News-Brief_2021-12-14T020050.151Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=817249098-News-Brief_2021-12-14T020050.151Z.webp) The Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, recently released its “Electronic Monitoring and Surveillance in the Workplace” [report](https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC125716), which examined 398 articles about workplace surveillance. #### **It found that in 2020:** - Global demand for employee monitoring software increased by **108%** in April and 70% in May, compared with 2019. - Online searches for “how to monitor employees working from home” increased by **1,705%** in April and 652% in May. - Employee monitoring software companies saw increased sales inquiries. For example, inquiries for tracking app DeskTime were up** 333%** in April. #### **At-home monitoring techniques vary…** … but typically involve tools that track employees’ keystrokes, communication, social media accounts, desktops, or — gulp — even webcams. Sneek, a service that snaps webcam photos of employees every 5 minutes, saw its signups boom tenfold and reached 10k+ users amid the pandemic. (Sneek [says](https://www.businessinsider.com/work-from-home-sneek-webcam-picture-5-minutes-monitor-video-2020-3) it’s not for spying, but building office culture.) Moving into serious yikes territory, employees at a UK call center were [told](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/26/teleperformance-call-centre-staff-monitored-via-webcam-home-working-infractions) they’d be monitored by webcams and AI that would report infractions like eating or being absent from their desks. To avoid being reported, employees could click a “break” button and explain where they were going (e.g., to the bathroom, to get water). #### **And how do workers feel about this?** They don’t like it (duh). Per the report, task-based monitoring — how much work is done and how well — is seen as the least intrusive type of monitoring. But monitoring the process employees use to complete those tasks strips them of autonomy and can cause “negative psycho-social outcomes,” like stress or waning commitment. It can also lead to resistance. *Vice* recently reported on the rise of “[mouse movers](https://www.vice.com/en/article/88gqgp/mouse-mover-jiggler-app-keep-screen-on-active)” to bypass software that detects mouse movement. And ultimately, employees may just quit. Hey, nobody likes a micromanager. **For more:** Check out *ZDNet’*s [interview](https://www.zdnet.com/article/remote-working-job-surveillance-is-on-the-rise-for-some-the-impact-could-be-devastating/) with Kirstie Ball, the report’s author. Topics: [Workplace Issues](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/workplace-issues) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![‘Lazy management’ vs. ‘fake work’](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1322416868-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-woman_sleeping_20230711001539.webp) ### ‘Lazy management’ vs. ‘fake work’ - ![Climbing the corporate ladder? More like scaling the noncompete wall](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/939844908-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Noncompete_20230608234933.webp) ### Climbing the corporate ladder? More like scaling the noncompete wall - ![Office workers dread the commute, spending money](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1603667284-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay2024202023commmuting.webp) ### Office workers dread the commute, spending money - ![Top bosses want you back in the office — like, right now](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/961948822-httpsthe-hustle.hubspot.comhubfsDaily20Newsletter20ImagesMay209202023return_to_office.webp) ### Top bosses want you back in the office — like, right now - ![Hey, CEOs… You good?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/357918615-19-News-Brief_2023-04-24T235457.502Z.webp) ### Hey, CEOs… You good? - ![Millions of Americans retired early. Now they want to work again](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1583684738-News-Brief_2022-03-31T233737.536Z.webp) ### Millions of Americans retired early. Now they want to work again - ![Apparently workers are lying to their bosses about using ChatGPT](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/892524159-19-News-Brief_2023-03-21T004515.517Z.webp) ### Apparently workers are lying to their bosses about using ChatGPT - ![Scammers are coming for laid-off tech workers](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1425929936-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-13T013655.931Z.webp) ### Scammers are coming for laid-off tech workers - ![Your newest corporate nightmare: ‘Bleisure’](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/613368110-HS-News-Brief_2022-12-07T230219.229Z.webp) ### Your newest corporate nightmare: ‘Bleisure’ - ![Why Apple store workers are unionizing](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1809834651-HS-News-Brief_2022-11-16T011948.164Z-scaled.webp) ### Why Apple store workers are unionizing Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "datePublished" : "2021-12-14T10:05:36.000Z", "headline" : "Employers are spying on workers… to their own detriment", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/817249098-News-Brief_2021-12-14T020050.151Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/12142021-employers-spying", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Juliet Bennett Rylah", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/juliet-bennett-rylah" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T20:25:20+0000", "datePublished" : "2021-12-14T10:05:36+0000", "headline" : "Employers are spying on workers… to their own detriment", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/817249098-News-Brief_2021-12-14T020050.151Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```