The Implications of Digital Employee Monitoring and People Analytics for Power Relations in the Workplace

Abstract

Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon prison project was based on three central assumptions: the omnipresence of the “watcher”; the universal visibility of objects of surveillance; and the assumption, by the “watched,” that they are under constant observation. While the metaphor of the panopticon, following Michel Foucault’s work, was often applied to workplace and workplace surveillance to highlight the “disciplining” power of the supervisor’s “gaze,” this paper argues that it is only with the recent advent of digital employee monitoring technology that the workplace is becoming truly “panoptic.” With modern electronic means of surveillance, the supervisor is always “looking”—even when not physically present or not actually watching employees—as all worker actions and movements may now be recorded and analyzed (in real time or at any time in the future). This paper argues that the modern workplace approximates Bentham’s panoptic prison much more than the “traditional” workplace ever did and examines the implications of this fundamental historical change in the paradigm of employee monitoring for power relations in the modern workplace.

Bosses without a heart: socio-demographic and cross-cultural determinants of attitude toward Emotional AI in the workplace

“…Although there exists a growing body of literature on digital surveillance in the workplace (Ball 2010 ; Marciano 2019 ; Rosenblat 2018 ; Manokha 2020 ; Moore and Woodcock 2021 ), the impact of EAI on workers, managers and the labor process is understudied apart from Andrew McStay’s seminal book, Emotional AI: The Rise of Empathic Media . This article identifies two major streams of interest evolving out of affect-driven automated management systems.…”

“…La Torre et al ( 2019 ) and Rosenblat ( 2018 ) both agree that automated management can foment higher degrees of anxiety and stress through target settings, time tracking, gamification, ticketing systems and performance monitoring. Finally, Manokha ( 2020 ) and Marciano ( 2019 ) maintain that automated surveillance can erode employer–employee relations, leading to lower trust levels and stalled productivity.…”

Control or protection? Work environment implications of police body‐worn cameras

“…These mobile technologies offer the ability to monitor at a distance and as such constitute examples of the 'new surveillance' (Marx, 2002). This type of surveillance is 'new' in the sense that employees do not have to be present in a particular space under surveillance but can be surveilled as they move around between different indoor and outdoor locations (Manokha, 2020). Obviously, power is located in such practices (Manokha, 2020;Townley, 1994).…”

“…This type of surveillance is 'new' in the sense that employees do not have to be present in a particular space under surveillance but can be surveilled as they move around between different indoor and outdoor locations (Manokha, 2020). Obviously, power is located in such practices (Manokha, 2020;Townley, 1994). In the words of Foucault (1995: 142), surveillance can be used for continuous 'examination' of employees 'to be able at each moment to supervise the conduct of each individual, to assess it, to judge it, to calculate its qualities or merits'.…”

Perspectives from Higher Education: Applied Sciences University Teachers on the Digitalization of the Bioeconomy : The Acceptance of Digital Surveillance in an Age of Big Data

“…Most recently, the debate involving digital surveillance has been intensified by the proliferation of contact tracing apps due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the widespread protests that followed the death of George Floyd (Amit et al, 2020;Keshet, 2020;Maier, 2020;McGee et al, 2020;Ram & Gray, 2020;Sekalala et al, 2020). Also, the increasing remote surveillance of teleworkers by their employers (Rosengren & Ottosson, 2016) and the adoption of proctoring software in the educational sector to monitor online exams during the pandemic lockdowns have sparked fierce reactions and discussions across the world (Asher-Schapiro, 2020;Manokha, 2020a;Manokha, 2020b;Stott & Wiggins, 2020). These advancements bringing surveillance to our private homes beg a question: are there any areas left that are not under surveillance?…”