When the business watches you (part 1)

In the classic 1936 film Modern Times, Charlie Chaplin plays a factory worker with a very menial, thankless job. From the first scenes, where bustling workers entering the factory are visually compared to a throng of sheep, Chaplin's genius is in evidence. His vision of of a demanding, hairsplitting plant boss using video monitoring equipment to keep tabs on the workers was a total fantasy in 1936, and somehow, this film makes what is outwardly an alarming premise seem both provocative and entertaining. In an early scene, Chaplin, as the factory worker, withdraws into a men's room for a break, and under the belief that he is finally alone, he leans back into relaxation to puff a cigarette. Suddenly, the wall next to him suddenly erupts with a huge image of the boss, seated at his desk. His eyes fixed squarely on Chaplin, he bellows: "Hey! Quit stalling! Get back to work!" The crusty old man's gaze eerily follows our startled hero as he goes racing out the door, as if jolted by an electric cattle prod.

I have read several articles online about "workplace monitoring" as it is practiced today, and I have to say, I'm very uneasily reminded of Modern Times. The practice of using technology to keep track of employees is as old as the punch clock. Today's practices, though, are far more powerful, and much more dangerous, on many different levels. According to laws in most states, employers have full rights to monitor E-mail, chats, web use, and phone calls. Cameras are routinely installed throughout the premises, usually in the name of security, but this technology is obviously usable for tracking the moment-to-moment whereabouts of an employee.

Of even greater significance is the ability to use software to assist with monitoring. Keyword searches in chat and E-mail logs can automatically scan for keywords and instantly alert a supervisor of any statement that is considered interesting. Phone records can easily be matched to numbers of prospective new employers or ex-employees. There has even been some discussion of requiring employees to carry GPS devices in cell phones or corporate badges so that an employer can see where an employee is at any time, day or night, and send alerts to an employer if someone goes to any unauthorized location.

I do not dispute that employers have the right to know if their employees are doing their jobs adequately and as agreed. They also are far better off knowing, sooner, not later, who is giving away trade secrets, or stealing company assets, or who may be creating cause for a sexual harrassment lawsuit. However, companies had such policies long before there was information technology to analyze it all, and business generally got along. Why do we need these changes? One could argue that computer-aided workers, now able now to tap into any website and transact in any way with anyone in the world, need to be appropriately moderated so that their attention and efforts go to the right places. However, this answer is plainly too simple.

Like Chaplin's character in the movie, employees need to take a break from not only their work but also from their watchful bosses, and that may involve any number of things that are necessary for a unique person's spiritual and physical health. Employers, generally fixed on the bottom line, may not readily understand or accept such practices, especially as they are seen far out of context - that is, without an initimate understanding of the employees' personality. In this spirit, Modern Times depicted the factory worker suffering a breakdown and being swallowed up by the machines he was servicing. This heavy-handed visual metaphor is quite plain here, and it is relevant to today's "modern times." Ironically, it is the practice of constant monitoring that might actually reduce worker productivity, as employees now feel mistrusted, less free to act on their individual needs, and far less loyal to interests who seem out to control and monitor their every waking moment.