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If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

nytimes.com

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Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#21

Post by JoeAltmaier »

usdghkasdghk wrote: post #17
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

They call this dystopian, but I don't get it. Why keep a slacker around when you have limited slots for workers? Why not measure and retain good workers? Somebody please try a little to see beyond the linkbait title of the OP. Knee-jerk anti-the-man comments aren't very helpful in digging into why this is a good or bad idea.

It's a great idea, but I believe they should use a collar with a name tag attached. That would make it easier for managers to identify people.

Great idea - just like the badges or nametags everybody in corporate wears? Like that?

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#22

Post by Santosh83 »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #9
Santosh83 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you prepared to wear a bracelet when you work?

Millions of people wear a fitbit. I used to wear a watch (to regulate my work day). How many office workers wear a badge? Most of them. Not a problem

A badge is not a monitoring device and a watch is not forced one you. You wear it voluntarily. Its not that monitoring employees is wrong, but there's a way to go about it. You can't force spy devices on a person's body or close to them constantly and win the approval/loyalty of your workers.

Why not install CCTV in the loo while you're at it? Staying inordinately long in there is also a form of slacking. How about microphone to monitor the conversation between workers?

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#23

Post by heymijo »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

They call this dystopian, but I don't get it. Why keep a slacker around when you have limited slots for workers? Why not measure and retain good workers? Somebody please try a little to see beyond the linkbait title of the OP. Knee-jerk anti-the-man comments aren't very helpful in digging into why this is a good or bad idea.

The perverse incentives this instills will be worse than any supposed "efficiency" gains it brings about.

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#24

Post by minikites »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #13
ahoy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really hope you're not in a position of management.

Sure I've managed software crews, but programmers need down time. I'm sure these workers have breaks too.

You're far too trusting about how companies treat their workers:

https://twitter.com/CollectableCat/status/932738863449214976

http://www.nelp.org/content/uploads/2015/03/BrokenLawsReport...

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#25

Post by biesnecker »

The problem with this isn’t the tracking, as many have pointed out this isn’t _that_ much different than human supervisors, but rather the hugely limited scope of the tracking. There’s a lot more to what makes a human a valuable employee than can be tracked by a wristband, and while you can say all you want that this won’t cause humans to be treated like robots, if you entirely disincentivize the things that humans do well, then you already _are_ treating them like robots.

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#26

Post by z0r »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

They call this dystopian, but I don't get it. Why keep a slacker around when you have limited slots for workers? Why not measure and retain good workers? Somebody please try a little to see beyond the linkbait title of the OP. Knee-jerk anti-the-man comments aren't very helpful in digging into why this is a good or bad idea.

A lot of people have trouble with the idea that quantitative technological shifts over time can lead to a phase change. You boil water and it becomes steam, you measure someones work time at a fine enough grain (invading a privacy that some argue never was theirs but in practice has been) and suddenly you're in a dystopia.

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#27

Post by xr4ti »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #11
xr4ti wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because economy exists to sustain and enrich the lives of humans, not the other way around.

Yet, capitalism and the free market. This is little different from a McDonalds shift manager watching over workers at the lunch rush.

There are qualitative and quantitative differences between requiring weekly progress meetings, daily updates, and microchipping employees.

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#28

Post by dictum »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

They call this dystopian, but I don't get it. Why keep a slacker around when you have limited slots for workers? Why not measure and retain good workers? Somebody please try a little to see beyond the linkbait title of the OP. Knee-jerk anti-the-man comments aren't very helpful in digging into why this is a good or bad idea.

As with all things in life, it depends on what you mean by slacking.

(And the malleability of the definition of "slacking" after the practice of measuring it is established.)

Re: If Workers Slack Off, the Wristband Will Know

#30

Post by wiz21c »

Santosh83 wrote: post #3
JoeAltmaier wrote: post #2

They call this dystopian, but I don't get it. Why keep a slacker around when you have limited slots for workers? Why not measure and retain good workers? Somebody please try a little to see beyond the linkbait title of the OP. Knee-jerk anti-the-man comments aren't very helpful in digging into why this is a good or bad idea.

Are you prepared to wear a bracelet when you work?

Yeah, one that strangles my wrist when it decides I slack too much or if I go the the WC too often...
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