Covid-19 has clearly had a profound impact on the nature of work, with vast swathes of the workforce forced to work from home due to lockdown measures.  The transition prompted many managers to deploy various surveillance technologies to monitor what employees were doing from home in a move which research from the University of St Andrews argues has significantly harmed trust between employees and employers.

“There is a clear need for trust to be rebuilt in the workplace between staff and employers post-COVID,” the researchers say.  “Where monitoring has a specific purpose such as health and safety, it can actually reassure staff. Or in development and training it can provide valuable feedback.  However, it can also have negative impacts too. A heavy focus on monitoring the quantity of output can reduce work quality”

The study, which was conducted with the European Commission’s Joint Research Council, warns employers that striving for efficiency at the expense of ethics will backfire, with productivity declines, staff resignations, and worsening mental health problems likely to result.

Surveillance workplace

The methods of surveillance have included tracking movement, recording keystrokes, and taking regular photos with webcams, with the paper highlighting the rise in such methods during the pandemic.  Indeed, the authors highlight that demand for monitoring software grew by 108% in April 2020 alone.

They remind us that monitoring of performance can easily be viewed as a fundamental lack of trust and confidence among employees, which can easily result in a vicious cycle in the workplace.

“Employers impose punitive surveillance which causes the behaviors it was put in place to prevent, as employees try to resist or avoid it,” they say. “The social support provided by managers for monitored workers is crucial to avoid some of these negative outcomes.”

What’s more, there is growing concern that monitored employees may lack adequate managerial support, which could itself lead to numerous problems.

“There is a real need for more research on how data is used by employers and policy may need to change to reflect these new ways of working,” the researchers conclude.