It could happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. But it has already been announced in the UK offices of “Big Four” accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), to become effective January 1st. At that time, PwC will begin tracking where its employees in the UK are working.

Happy New Year, folks!

That’s right — they will be using “location data“ to verify where their employees are at any given time, presumably during working hours.

And it’s all because of the Covid-19 pandemic, which gave rise to work-at-home, which then — even after the worst of Covid was said to be behind us — morphed into a hybrid work schedule that has become so popular in many places around the world.

But even the best of intentions can have unexpected negative results. And now some employers are having trouble getting their people back into the office; it seems that folks enjoy working at home in their pajamas, and not having to commute in heavy traffic and all sorts of weather.

But employers have found — and I can’t imagine why they should be surprised — that some people cheat. Or simply don’t work as industriously or conscientiously outside a business environment or without supervision.

In addition, PwC-UK — who now insist that employees spend at least three days a week, or 60% of their time, in the office or with clients — have said:

“Our business thrives on strong relationships — and those are almost always more easily built and sustained face-to-face . . . By being physically together, we can offer our clients a differentiated experience and create the positive learning and coaching environment that is key to our success.” [Lianne Kolirin, CNN, September 6, 2024.]

Further, PwC said, the move is intended to “adjust” the firm’s existing hybrid working approach in order to place “more emphasis on in-person working”:

“We all benefit from the positive impact of a hybrid approach, but the previous guidance of at least two to three days a week was open to interpretation. This update aims to provide clarity around where and how we expect everyone to work.“ [Id.]

They do assure employees that individual working location data will be shared with them on a monthly basis, “to ensure that the new policy is being fairly and consistently applied across our business.” [Id.]

And in a recent online press release, the managing partner of PwC-UK stressed the importance of face-to-face working, while at the same time continuing to offer the flexibility of hybrid working.

Well, that’s all fine and dandy. Personally, before I retired, I preferred working in the office, where the entire atmosphere — the availability of resources, equipment setup, interaction with other human beings — was more conducive to actually getting the job done, and offered a change of scenery and a certain amount of socialization that you just don’t get at home in your jammies. (In all honesty, though, I really hated the morning and evening commutes.)

But where does the tracking stop? Of course, it’s supposed to end at the close of the normal workday — say, for example, 5:30 p.m. And hopefully, at PwC that is exactly what will happen. But where is the guarantee of that? You know this idea is going to spread. What is to stop some not-so-scrupulous employer from failing to turn off the tracker at closing time . . . perhaps in the guise of assuring that their employees aren’t spending personal time in unacceptable — perhaps even illegal — pursuits that might impact negatively on the business? Is that a legitimate excuse for spying on people?

And will the tracking technology be connected solely to the employer’s hardware being used at the employees’ homes, to be deactivated at that 5:30 closing time? Will the employees be able to shut it down? Or will the companies also be geolocating their employees through the individuals’ cell phone GPS software? Will people have to start turning off their personal phones in order to maintain any sense of privacy?

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Before I can decide how I feel about this development, I need to know more about how it will work. In the meantime, maybe I’ll just go back to blaming those bats in China for starting the whole Covid thing again.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
9/10/24