Yes, Big Brother Is Watching You At Work – Welcome To The Age of Bossware

The memorable phrase, “Big Brother is watching you,” comes from George Orwell’s masterpiece novel “1984,” and is an example of “doublespeak.” Doublespeak is “evasive, ambiguous language that is intended to deceive or confuse.” (Dictionary.com) In today’s work environment, you have Big Tech’s latest thing: “bossware.”

Corporate phones, computers, emails, texts, and the like are the property of the company and can be monitored 24/7. Employees are not entitled to privacy, though many employees forget that the IT department is monitoring the websites they visit, and accounting is combing through the phone bill to flag your long-distance calls to Caribbean hotels. Or, even worse, employees erroneously believe they are entitled to privacy but are not in any way, shape, or form.

That brings us to “bossware,” a whole new level of employee monitoring packaged with product names like “CleverControl” with sales pitches that include phrases like “promotes employee well-being.” This type of software can monitor everything you do right down to the number of keystrokes you execute every day. If that doesn’t scream, “well-being” to you, you may not be cut out for the hyper-control post-pandemic pathway many employers are opting to take.

If a camera on your corporate laptop is taking videos of you every time you turn it on, it’s called quality control. It’s kind of creepy, but it’s completely legal.

Employees should be aware that they have little to no right to privacy in their professional sphere and advanced technology is now being employed on a granular level to monitor everything you do, regardless of what you do, where you work (i.e., remote or in-office), or what position you hold in a company. According to a recent Wired article, “There’s been a surge in mechanisms that facilitate location tracking… video/camera monitoring… document scanning… and attendance tracking.” (Wired, July 2023). Add in wearable biometrics and artificial intelligence and you have a recipe for employers having absolute control over their employees. Big Brother, eat your heart out.

Look, chances are your company employs some kind of monitoring system. Perhaps it’s as simple as your manager staring at you from across the office. Or security cameras everywhere recording what happens. Or maybe it’s the latest version of bossware that, along with the biometric shirt you’re wearing, is making a second-by-second record of everything you do along with your heart rate and how often your neurons fire. All in the name of maximum productivity. Likely, your employer is not open about what, and to what level, they use monitoring tools.

Most simply, from a job hunter’s standpoint, buyer beware. If you are a job seeker weighing an offer, you may consider asking about monitoring tools before you make a decision. No recruiter wants top talent voting with their feet because they have to disclose the company will track everything they do once they’re hired. That may be the only slice of leverage you have before you agree to let Big Tech Brother into your life.

Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.