Reply to: Mouse jigglers

[SueEllen]

Ah, the trials of a data entry clerk.
my heart bleeds, - honest!

When I did data entry it was only part of the role as the company didn't want to be sued for RSI.

I later then did a role where a different company were dealing with claims from their typing pool. They had to go around telling younger staff to take breaks from using the computer.

[NotAllThere]

Ah, the trials of a data entry clerk.
my heart bleeds, - honest!

My wife used to work as a data analyst - not a high level job and way below her capability, but it was income. She usually had finished her work by midday. Fortunately, one of the engineers spotted that she was a good worker, and made sure that she was promoted.

She married me, dear reader...

[NotAllThere]

My employer in their job adverts specifies "trust based working".

I'm not on the front line. If my boss contacts me during the day, it's fine for me to say "I'm at the gym, I'll get back to you in a couple of hours". On the other hand, I did work from 6am-8am yesterday. I'd had an idea during the night you see...

[sadkingbilly]

Ah, the trials of a data entry clerk.
my heart bleeds, - honest!

[Fraidycat]

It doesn't say much about a job if the only way of telling if someone's on the job is by monitoring their keyboard/mouse activity.

Prior to wfh/covid that was pretty much every job, we were expected to be at our desks typing away either really working or pretending to work.
If you got all your work done by midday you couldn't take the rest of the day off. Now we can

Back in the office days you might have stretched the work to fill the whole day.

[sadkingbilly]

Ha! No. I avoid any job with 'manager' in the title

I try to avoid People with 'manager' in their title.
not always successfully, unfortunately (usually for them, not me)

[woody1]

It doesn't say much about a job if the only way of telling if someone's on the job is by monitoring their keyboard/mouse activity.

[ladymuck]

ah! - you're a PM then?

Ha! No. I avoid any job with 'manager' in the title

[sadkingbilly]

All my best work is done by my mouse jiggler

ah! - you're a PM then?

[hobnob]

I'd guess a couple of million people read the article looking for the answer to this - 'The firm did not respond to questions about how the alleged issue was discovered,' and went away very disappointed.

I think it would depend on how the device works. If it plugs into a USB port (emulating a mouse/keyboard) then it could be identified based on the hardware ID.

There are others which are more like mini-treadmills, i.e. the mouse gets physically moved around (or held still while the surface moves underneath it), and I think they'd be harder to detect. Ditto if you went for the Homer Simpson approach with a drinking bird tapping the Shift key.

[ladymuck]

All my best work is done by my mouse jiggler

[quackhandle]

I remember HSBC implementing something a few years before Covid, "Workplace Yoga" they called it.

Reminded me of Arbeit macht frei.

qh

[Unix]

I wouldn't work in a place that did this, neither would anyone decent. They value key stroke monkeys over highly skilled productive people and that's what they'll get.

Anyway off for my afternoon nap.

[sadkingbilly]

getting worried now?
all the workshy permies and permietractors looking over their shoulders

[northernladuk]

I'd guess a couple of million people read the article looking for the answer to this - 'The firm did not respond to questions about how the alleged issue was discovered,' and went away very disappointed.