Employers Are Watching You

Sixty percent of companies with employees who work remotely are using monitoring software to track employee activity and productivity, according to a September survey of 1,250 employers in the U.S. by Digital.com.

The top reason employers say they require monitoring software is to better understand how employees are spending their time (79%). Employers also say they want to confirm employees are working a full day (65%) and ensure they aren’t using work equipment for personal use (50%).

Employers are primarily tracking their employees’ habits by using software that monitors web browsing and application use (76%). They’re also using software that captures random screenshots (60%), blocks content and applications (54%), and logs keystrokes (44%).

The majority of employees know their bosses are virtually watching them. Eighty-six percent of companies using monitoring software informed their employees, but 14% have not.

Eighty-one percent of employers using monitoring software report seeing an increase in employee productivity after the software was implemented. Ten percent of employers say they are unsure about whether it’s making workers more productive, while 9% of employers did not see any improvement in productivity.

The survey found 27% of employers say they have employees who are spending five hours or more per day on non-work activities. Another 52% have employees who spend one to four hours per day away from their workstations or browsing the internet. Only 7% of employers say their employers are focused on work all day long.

A quarter of employers terminated between one and 10 workers as a result of monitoring their productivity habits, while 21% terminated between 51 and 100 employees. Only 12% of employers surveyed did not fire anyone after implementing monitoring software.

More survey results and methodology are available at https://digital.com/6-in-10-employers-require-monitoring-software-for-remote-workers/.