our company started tracking screenshots and mouse movement every 5 minutes
this is about my previous job. left 2 months ago and still annoyed enough to write about it
we'd been remote since covid. no issues, team hit every deadline, client satisfaction was up. everything worked. then new VP of ops came in january and decided remote workers needed "accountability tools"
they rolled out this monitoring software called TimeDoctor. here's what it does:
- screenshots of your screen every 5 minutes
- tracks mouse movement and keyboard activity
- flags "idle time" if you stop typing for 3 minutes
- sends reports to managers with "productivity scores"
three minute idle flag. I can't even read an email without my mouse jiggling or it counts against me
people started doing the most ridiculous stuff. taping mice to fans. installing mouse jiggler software. scheduling fake calendar events to appear busy. the actual productive work people were doing before? replaced by a performance of looking busy
within 6 weeks, 4 of the best engineers quit. the senior PM who'd been there 7 years put in notice. our top client-facing person left for a competitor. all remote people, all high performers, all gone
management's response? "this proves remote workers aren't committed." no. it proves that treating adults like warehouse robots makes the good ones leave and the ones who stay learn to game your stupid system
I left in march. new job, no monitoring, no screenshots. my manager trusts me to get work done and checks results not keystrokes. revolutionary concept apparently