Taylorism Gone Mad Or A Better Work-Life Balance?

Predictions

from the fine-lines... dept

It’s really no surprise that this is happening, but as technology continues to get better at recording all sorts of things about us, a new discussion is opening up about employers monitoring employees. Even though plenty of studies (for years and years and years) have shown that too much employee monitoring actually harms productivity that won’t stop this new generation from trying. What’s interesting here is the way it’s being spun – not as a direct way of improving productivity (modern Taylorism), but as a better way for employers to help employees improve their work life balance. In other words, the article suggests that employers can monitor employees’ cholesterol levels and stress levels and realize when they need a break. They (way too easily) dismiss the idea of privacy by pointing out that privacy doesn’t matter any more (uh… says who?). Even worse, no where do they explain why it makes sense for the employer to be doing this kind of monitoring and keeping this kind of data. It seems perfectly reasonable for employees to monitor themselves this way, but it’s not clear why an employer should have any need to know this information.