![Mouse shakers, power naps: Corporate America fights 'keyboard fraud'](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/88/8a/d7/Mouse-shakers--power-naps--Corporat-721781.jpg)
-
DR Congo sentences 25 soldiers to death for 'fleeing the enemy': lawyer
-
Sinner, Alcaraz move on at Wimbledon as Osaka slumps on Centre Court return
-
'Lucky' Sinner defeats big-hitting Berrettini to reach Wimbledon third round
-
Messi a doubt for Argentina ahead of Copa quarter-final
-
British tennis ace Raducanu votes for 'lie-in' on election day
-
France film director Jacquot charged with raping two actors
-
Israel 'evaluating' new Hamas 'ideas' on halting Gaza war
-
Venezuela, US agree to 'improve relations,' says Caracas
-
Under-fire Kenya govt says to review state salary hikes
-
Thousands told to flee raging California wildfire
-
Osaka focuses on Olympics after Wimbledon KO
-
Tens of thousands flee south Gaza as tensions soar
-
US Fed officials stressed 'patience' on rate cuts: minutes
-
Blond not bombs as Fognini learns to love Wimbledon
-
New lithium plant inaugurated in Argentina
-
Threads hits 175 mn users on first anniversary
-
French court says Netflix shark hit can keep streaming in copycat row
-
Comeback king 'Cav' to carry on doing the thing he loves
-
Alcaraz marches on at Wimbledon as Osaka returns to Centre Court
-
Biden under pressure as Democratic panic rises
-
Belarus frees 'some political prisoners': exiled opposition leader
-
Alcaraz coasts into Wimbledon third round
-
Cavendish makes Tour de France history with 35th stage win
-
Everton sign forward Ndiaye from Marseille
-
Bailed Indian opposition leader to return as chief minister
-
World's oldest artwork discovered in Indonesian cave
-
Toney urges England to kick on after Euros reprieve
-
Murray teams up with Raducanu in Wimbledon mixed doubles
-
Former England rugby coach Jack Rowell dies aged 87
-
Hurricane Beryl bears down on Jamaica
-
US trade deficit expands less than expected in May: govt
-
'The god took away my son': Indians grieve after deadly stampede
-
Moscow hit by heat not seen in over a century
-
US private hiring eases unexpectedly in June: ADP
-
Confident Kroos says Germany-Spain clash 'won't be my last game'
-
Paris bars to open 24h for Olympics opening ceremony
-
Putin, Xi vie for influence at Central Asian summit
-
Germany, Sweden arrest eight over Syria crimes against humanity
-
French giant Mpetshi Perricard joins Wimbledon heavy artillery
-
Two-time Major winner Langer to make 'emotional' European Tour bow
-
French PM urges united front to stop far-right takeover
-
Olympic silver medallist gymnast Poujade dies at 51
-
Bhole Baba: preacher at centre of Indian stampede disaster
-
Microsoft to invest 2.2 bn euros in Spain data centres
-
Showdowns, young guns and own goals as Euro 2024 head into quarter-finals
-
Russia advances in east, kills five in Dnipro strikes
-
France prosecutors request rape charges against film director
-
Schumacher blackmail suspects had 'family photos'
-
EU clears Lufthansa's proposed ITA Airways stake, with conditions
-
Indian World Cup winners head home after hurricane delay
![Mouse shakers, power naps: Corporate America fights 'keyboard fraud'](https://www.portugalcolonial.pt/media/shared/articles/88/8a/d7/Mouse-shakers--power-naps--Corporat-721781.jpg)
Mouse shakers, power naps: Corporate America fights 'keyboard fraud'
A US banking giant fired more than a dozen employees for "simulating keyboard activity," highlighting a battle within productivity-obsessed corporate America to tame a culture of faking work with gizmos such as mouse jigglers.
The sackings by Wells Fargo come as employers use sophisticated tools -- popularly called "tattleware" or "bossware" -- on company-issued devices to monitor productivity in the age of hybrid work that took off after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Some workers seek to outsmart them with tools such as mouse movers -- which simulate cursor movement, preventing their devices from going into sleep mode and making them appear active when they may actually be getting a power nap or doing laundry.
The cat-and-mouse game -- no pun intended -- has spurred a wider debate in corporate America about whether screentime and the click-clacking of keyboards are effective yardsticks to measure productivity amid a boom in remote work.
The Well Fargo workers were dismissed last month following a probe of allegations involving "simulation of keyboard activity creating impression of active work," Bloomberg reported, citing the company's disclosures to financial regulators.
Wells Fargo "holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior," the company said in a statement, without elaborating.
- 'Productivity theater' -
Multiple US surveys show that demand for employee monitoring software -- systems that track activity via desktop monitoring, keystroke tracking and even GPS location -- has shot up since the pandemic.
One Florida-based social media marketing company, according to the Harvard Business Review (HBR), installed software on employees' devices that took screenshots of their desktop every 10 minutes.
Such surveillance has given rise to what human resource professionals call "productivity theater" –- in which some employees seek to project that they are busy while doing nothing constructive.
A series of "tutorials" on platforms including TikTok and YouTube even teach how to appear busy on computer screens, which generally go black after a few minutes of inactivity.
Those include fake PowerPoint techniques for "when you need to take your afternoon nap."
"Just hit 'slideshow' and you're good," Sho Dewan, an influencer who identifies himself as an "ex-recruiter sharing HR secrets," said in a TikTok video that garnered millions of views.
The device will stay "active" while the presentation is on, he said flashing a thumbs up before a slide that read: "Really important work meeting."
Among the hundreds of comments under the video, one viewer quipped: "At one point I taped a mouse to an oscillating fan -- why couldn't I have found (this) sooner?"
- 'Seriously backfire' -
Another trick noted in the tutorials involves opening a notes application and placing a lock on any keyboard letter. The worker thereby appears active to tracking devices while the page fills up with row after row of the same letter.
But the most popular trick appears to be the deployment of mouse jigglers, widely available on Amazon for as little as $11.
"Push the button when you're getting up from your desk and the cursor travels randomly around the screen -- for hours, if needed!" reads one product review on Amazon.
But there remains a serious risk of getting caught.
In one viral Reddit post titled "My manager caught me with a mouse jiggler," an employee noted that the transgression was the "last straw" after he excused himself from several meetings citing "power outages" and "thunderstorms."
He noted that he had installed a software-based jiggler, prompting some readers to suggest using "non detectable" physical ones.
HR professionals warn of the dangers of surveilling employees and confusing keyboard activity with productivity.
One survey cited by HBR suggested that secretly monitoring employees can "seriously backfire."
"We found that monitored employees were substantially more likely to take unapproved breaks, disregard instructions, damage workplace property, steal office equipment, and purposefully work at a slow pace," the HBR report said.
A.J. Mizes, chief executive of the consulting firm Human Reach, said the use of mouse jigglers demonstrated a "work culture driven by metrics rather than meaningful productivity and human connection."
"There has been a growing troubling trend of excessive surveillance in corporate America," Mizes told AFP.
"Rather than stirring up innovation and trust, this surveillance approach will only push employees to find additional ways to appear busy."
G.M.Castelo--PC