Work-from-home surveillance? No thanks, say NZ workers

New Zealand may be among the world's champions when it comes to achieving work-life balance. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has herself been vocal about getting more employers to provide greater flexibility and better work-from-home options amid the pandemic.

However, if the transition means remote and hybrid workers would be subject to closer monitoring by bosses at the headquarters, then New Zealanders would likely push back against WFH surveillance, according to a study from IT group Unisys.

Workers in New Zealand are purportedly "uncomfortable" with being monitored while working offsite, regardless if the purpose of the surveillance activity aimed to boost workers' productivity, enhance data security, or provide greater support for a distributed workforce, results of the Unisys Security Index showed.

Younger workers are also said to be more wary of employee surveillance: 46% of staff aged 18 to 24 purportedly feel uncomfortable when pressured to record their log in/log out times, compared with 40% of those aged 55 to 64. 

Generation Z respondents also expressed concerns over the idea of employers monitoring workers' browser activity, whether they were using company-issued or their own personal device to surf the internet. 

While the COVID-19 crisis forced workers to operate from their own homes, remote and hybrid staff remain vigilant against intrusive workplace technology inside their home offices, especially those that could compromise their data privacy.

"Being mandated to work from home is not the same as volunteering for it," said Leon Sayers, director of advisory at Unisys, as quoted by IT Brief. "Employers must gain trust and permission to introduce monitoring technologies into that space."

Employee monitoring tools enable managers to gain visibility into their workers' daily routines. But just because these tools provide insight into their team members' activities doesn't mean close surveillance is warranted or "always appropriate," as Sayers pointed out.

"Look at the type of role. What is more critical – the input (time spent on a task) or the output (the deliverable)?"