If you’re worried about your boss being able to tell whether you’re actually working online, here’s a cautionary tale.
Wells Fargo & Co. fired more than a dozen employees in May for allegedly faking keyboard activity to make it appear they were at work, according to Bloomberg.
As many as 12 employees at the banking giant’s investment and wealth management services arm were reportedly “retired following a review of allegations involving simulated keyboard activity that created a positive work impression,” the news outlet said, citing information from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority on the matter. Fired”. Six of the cases have been confirmed by the BBC.
It’s unclear whether the employees allegedly did so at home or in the office. Wells Fargo is allowing employees to implement hybrid work-from-home arrangements.
How to check if your boss is watching your every keystroke
“Wells Fargo holds its employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg.
Mix and match speed of light
Mashable has reached out to Wells Fargo for comment.
There are many ways to pretend to be online while working, including using gadgets that mimic computer activity or “mouse shakers.” Mouse jitters are easy to get; they currently cost less than £10 on Amazon. They are mechanical devices that physically move the mouse to prevent the computer from entering sleep mode. TikTok users have been recommending these devices for years, while people on Reddit have shared horror stories of being caught using them by their managers.
It’s unclear how the company actually discovered that employees were allegedly engaging in “keyboard activity simulations.” Since the COVID-19 pandemic prompted the rise of working from home, more and more companies are monitoring their employees. Some companies install keylogging software on computers to record the characters typed, and biometric surveillance continues to increase despite privacy concerns and employee backlash.
A 2021 study from Express VPN found that 78% of employers engage in remote work monitoring, with 73% using email, phone calls, messages or videos to inform performance reviews — yes, your boss can read your Gmail Draft (and that’s not all) – 46% use it to monitor the potential formation of workers’ unions.
But as Jack Morse writes at Mashable, “While it’s certainly creepy that your boss is spying on your every move, it’s completely legal.”
