Cognizant recently rolled out a new system that tracks employee activity on company-issued laptops and desktops. The system will monitor how long employees stay active. In fact, it relies more on keyboard and mouse movements. This level of surveillance has been criticized by many of its employees and several industry observers.
How the Tracking Tool Works
- Idle time is recorded by Cognizant through the use of a tool called ProHance.
- Once the keyboard or mouse has been idle for over 5 minutes, the system marks an employee as idle.
- When the inactivity crosses 15 minutes, the tool marks the employee working on something else.
- Some English media reports say the settings for monitoring are not the same between different teams.
Company's Response
This, according to Cognizant, shall not be used for evaluating performance. The company spokesperson explains that the gathered information does not relate to promotion or bonuses. They say these are standard productivity tools used across the IT sector.
Companies like Wipro also utilize tools similar to ProHance. Cognizant says that employees give consent before the tool is activated. However, employees say the tool is compulsory for them to use. They also say that captured information in the system includes:
- Time spent on individual tasks
- Applications used and duration of use
Employee Concerns
Many employees find this tracking increases their levels of stress. They say the pressure rises at a time when AI-related uncertainty already affects job security. Workers argue that continuous monitoring does not contribute to improving productivity; on the contrary, it just creates more tension.
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