ok... this is the type of stuff that's going to spark a revolution.

Nope, because wtf?

Jesus Christ.

And that's how you run your firm's name in recruiting to the ground.

Who thought this would be a good idea? Let's just hope this article will cause some complaint and make them stop this nonsense.

so a heating pad and a vibrating massager....and boom problem solved

this clearly was a bright idea from HR and upper management. idiots.

That's a hard no. All that should matter is the work gets done, doesn't matter if you are present.

This is what happens when you let HR in banking roll out their ideas... I mean this is just plain stupid. There is software available that track computer processing power down to the CPU level and it can be rolled out to the entire enterprise... that easy. and Employees would have zero idea it is tracking them. Having a physical device is just stupid.

Wasn't this done as part of a study on hot desking rather than fixed desks?

That's fucking stupid.

First off.....as a manager, I don't give a fuck if you are at work 5, 10, or 15 hours a day so long as you produce superior results. If you do everything I need you to do and are done at 2PM then go have yourself a wonderful afternoon so long as you will be respond quickly to any problems that come up.

I mean what are you going to do? Your best analysts/associates are probably NOT the guys there at 3AM every single day. I've seen it many times in a variety of positions/roles in both private and public sector. It's because the best employees are the ones who know how to get shit done efficiently and won't be there late unless you have a situation that really demands it....they're also much more likely to be the ones that you trust enough to let them work from home on the weekends or at night. What are you going to do? Take a great employee and tell him that he better get his shit in order by spending an extra 4 hours a day sitting at his desk twiddling his thumbs?

So no, I don't really give a shit. If I don't have anything for them to do for the next hour or two much rather have them in the gym, grabbing what they need at the corner drugstore, or getting a mocha than sitting at they're desk so they're fresh for the long night ahead.

It's also extremely creepy. This is the kind of shit that we expect virgin stalkers, not industry leading experts.

Literally the dumbest thing I have ever heard ever.

Yeah I would protest sensors on my desk.

I mean, my mug is priceless, lets get some footage on camera to record this level of amazing. I'm sure the Chinese would want to watch me for hours. Sell that for millions. Revive the company.

problemsolved

Problem solved:

Just take a nice hot steaming dump on the device and you should be set.

This is very strange and actually counter-productive as it assumes you must be at your desk to be productively doing your work. What about when you have meetings? What about going to a colleague's cube/office to go over some numbers? My guess is the sensor isn't advanced enough to track specific individuals in conference rooms and other people's stations.

This is really incentivizes the wrong behavior. Companies using it will see their employees communicating less, sharing less ideas, and working less collaboratively.

Note: I understand people can also work together over email or phone; but in my experience nothing really beats face-to-face conversations.

"The love of bustle is not industry"

-Seneca

How long a person spends at his or her desk is not an accurate reflection of the amount of work they produce. A rough translation of this to students could be the guy that always fell asleep in class, but always scored the highest marks in the class. As long as you produce good work and comply with what your boss, superiors, etc. want and need, you should be fine. Maybe the sensors are for some study/research statistic, but I am against that.

The bank and sensor company say that it is not used to track time an individual spends at his/her desk but track unoccupied and under-utilized space in the building. They could be lying and the sensor is as creepy as it appears to be, or it just appears creepy but fairly harmless.

I'll just say that it's totally unfair to blame this on HR. HR is primarily scared to death of employment lawsuits so I'm confident they wouldn't propose something unusual like this. I'd blame whoever is responsible for operations and cost-cutting. Perhaps third party consultants.

I don't like the idea whatsoever, but... "We were given assurances that the boxes did not monitor individuals or their performance,” Unite national officer Dominic Hook said in a statement. The union “will keep a close eye on the situation to make sure that the sensors are never used to spy on staff or as a means to measure productivity.”

Talk about incentive conflicts, huh?

Wait for the lawsuit...

and the 0 applicants.

but why so serious?

I'd just screw a metal box around it. Fuck any person who thinks this could be good in any way. There are countless studies that show that autonomy is critical to performing at peak, and this big brother-esque monitoring seems like it would foster the exact opposite of that ideal environment.

Why is this necessary? Couldn't they just see who's computer was logged in/active for what period of time?

Are we sure they're not using this for the opposite, to see how long people are at their desks to implement a pens down Saturday or something?

Wait, nvm that sounded way less stupid before I typed it out. Of course they're crazy virgin stalkers.

Why is the OP deliberately misrepresenting the article? Clearly states it has nothing to do with monitoring productivity, and is solely for determining usage of "hot desks," in order to reduce office space.