Employee Surveillance Technologies: Prevalence, Classification, and Invasiveness

Abstract

The pandemic-generated shift to remote work, along with the increasing datafication of work processes, has triggered an unprecedented raise in the use of employee surveillance technologies. Although the literature on worker surveillance and control is rich and multifaceted, it still lacks a clear portrait of these technologies and their prevalence. This paper (a) reviews the academic and grey literatures to document the prevalence of employee surveillance technologies, (b) classifies employee surveillance technologies based on their material features, proposing twenty-one forms grouped in three categories, and (c) provides exploratory data that position these twenty-one forms on a spectrum ranging from the least to the most invasive on the personal and social levels. The documentation of prevalence, classification work, and the spectrum of personal and social invasiveness contribute to different streams of scientific literature and have important practical implications for workers, employers, policy makers, and unions.

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