But while employers clearly feel that there are meaningful impacts to monitoring employees so closely, most employees don’t feel the same way. One 2023 survey found that over 56% of employees feel anxious about being watched, while 43% said it is a violation of trust. Still, the trend isn’t slowing down. Market Research Future projects that employee monitoring will more than double, becoming a $15.98 billion industry by 2035.
Amba Kak, executive director of the AI Now Institute at New York University, previously told CNBC that the rise in message monitoring is concerning—not just because of what employees might say, but because of how doing so infringes on their rights. “It results in a chilling effect on what people are saying in the workplace,” Kak said. “These are as much worker rights issues as they are privacy issues.”
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