Your boss can now track how happy you are in meetings

Office workers know the fear of trying to stifle a yawn on a Zoom call, or keep up a constant smile while coworkers are speaking. Soon, though, how you act and feel during meetings could become a matter for performance reviews.

New monitoring software is being trialled by BT that can continuously film employees at their desks, and even track their emotions in real-time. According to The Metro, BT is currently in ‘proof of concept’, which means the product could be on the shelves soon.

BT says the technology is only being tested as a cybersecurity tool. But with surveillance tech increasingly being used to monitor staff performance and attendance at work, this could be yet another reason for workers to shy away from a return to the office.

Emotion recognition

BT unveiled a demonstration of the technology at its annual cybersecurity festival earlier this month. Known as ‘continuous authentication’, it is similar to facial recognition software.

But instead of just being used during login, staff are constantly filmed by a webcam.

Metro Senior News Reporter, Jen Mills shared a picture of a handout from the festival which explains why the new technology is smart for cybersecurity. The software can send an alert, lock a computer, or even shut down if an unauthorised person sits in front of the screen.

Handout from BT (Image credit: Jen Mills)

But also listed is ‘emotion recognition’, a feature which ‘tracks the user’s emotions in real time for enhanced security or user experience analysis’.

Many companies already use emotion recognition software (also known as emotion AI) to detect how employees are feeling. For example, call centres are able to monitor what their operators say and their tone of voice to appraise an agent’s customer service skills.

Cameras are a major step up, however – and not one that everyone will be comfortable with.

Being filmed all day could make staff feel self-conscious and prevent them from being their authentic self. Given the mountain of evidence that emotion AI does not have much success, workers may also be paranoid about their feelings being wrongly identified.

Will those with Resting B**** Face (a permanently unhappy facial expression) be forever interpreted as angry? Will a person be marked unproductive for simply looking offscreen? Without clear answers from managers, these doubts could foster mistrust in the workplace.

Why is employee tracking controversial?

If employees aren’t necessarily in favour of emotion AI, then who is? Like a lot of modern phenomena, the answer can be traced back to COVID, and the rise in flexible working.

With more office workers basing themselves from home instead of the workplace, some businesses have become fearful that their staff are becoming less productive. Employee tracking lets bosses keep an eye on how engaged the workforce is while at work.

Big Four consultancy firm PwC made headlines this month when it announced it would start tracking workers to ensure they were attending the office “a minimum of three days a week”. Those who breach the policy will be asked to explain why to their managers.

These efforts are done in the name of protecting wellbeing, by flagging signs of low morale. But there are cases where the technology has actually created more stress for staff.

In 2020, banking giant Barclays admitted to using software to send warnings if they took too many breaks.  A whistle-blower told City AM, “the stress this is causing is beyond belief and it shows an utter disregard for employee wellbeing.”

RTO mandates

A BT spokesperson told Metro that the emotion recognition aspect of its technology is not its main objective, which is to “protect our customers from cyber security threats.”

“Whilst the technology could potentially support employee wellbeing (such as prompting an employee to take a break), BT’s research focus is on the security aspect”, they added.

Whatever their intentions, however, we have already seen how organisations are misusing tech that supposedly aids staff, in order to gain oversight of a less visible, remote workforce.

As bosses seek out ways to encourage a return to office, the debate is in danger of becoming an internecine conflict. Businesses must now decide what employee monitoring is really for: ensuring staff safety, or encouraging presenteeism?