The connected workplace: Characteristics and social consequences of work surveillance in the age of datification, sensorization, and artificial intelligence

Abstract

Because of COVID-19 lockdowns, managers and administrators have begun to look for new ways to monitor and control their stranded-at-home workforce. Yet long before the pandemic already, advancements in datification, sensorization, and artificial intelligence have given rise to what we call connected workplace surveillance. At the heart of this new mode of employee monitoring and control is the extension of the scope of data collection beyond what is necessary and reasonable for performance appraisals or managerial oversight. This includes treating an employee’s body as a data source, disrespecting the boundaries between business and private life, or using gathered surveillance information for subtle persuasion, manipulation, and coercion. This article provides a new perspective on control theory, examining the characteristics of connected surveillance and comparing it to visual or computerized surveillance. Taking an employee-centric position, it also proposes a research agenda for critical, behavioral, and design-oriented scholars who wish to explore the identified issues.