Workplace Surveillance Is Here, Counting Your Mouse Clicks and Bathroom Breaks | The Walrus

"A medical transcriptionist in Atlantic Canada, Tessa (who has been granted a pseudonym to avoid any conflict with her employer) works remotely, spending her days alone with doctors' voices and diagnostic codes. Fusion, the platform she uses, logged her inactivity in detail, and Microsoft Teams displayed an "Away" status just five minutes after her last keystroke. Her employer had set a target: transcribe at least eighty minutes of audio dictation per shift. Falling short could raise questions-especially if the inactivity logs suggested too much downtime."

"But what began on shop floors and factory lines is now migrating into white-collar professions. Contract lawyers and remote administrative staff are increasingly subject to the same forms of monitoring-only digitized and dispersed across home offices and laptops. For many workers, both remote and in person, the workplace has quietly shifted into a site of constant measurement-where every pause can trigger scrutiny and where productivity is no longer just about results but continuous presence."

A medical transcriptionist working remotely encountered software that displayed timers after ten minutes of inactivity and required selecting a reason for pauses. Fusion logged detailed inactivity and Microsoft Teams switched to Away after five idle minutes. Employers set targets of transcribing eighty minutes of audio per shift, making shortfalls and inactivity logs a source of scrutiny. Employers historically monitored frontline workers with GPS, quotas, call recordings, and biometrics. Those surveillance methods are migrating into white-collar roles, making workplaces constantly measured and prioritizing continuous presence over results.

Read at The Walrus