Autopilot workers at Tesla's New York plant said the company tracks their keystrokes to make sure they're actively working throughout the day, according to a recent report from Bloomberg.
The tracking feature allows managers to see how long employees spend on each assignment, as well as how active they are on the computer throughout the day, Bloomberg reported. Six Tesla employees told the publication that they've avoided taking bathroom breaks due to the system.
The workers at the plant in Buffalo, New York are paid about $19 per hour to label data collected from beta testers for Tesla's self-driving software, Bloomber reported. On Tuesday, the workers emailed Elon Musk to inform the billionaire of their union campaign, which aims to secure better pay and benefits, as well as curb the workplace monitoring system, per the report.
A spokesperson for Tesla did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication.
It's not the first time that Tesla has faced allegations that it tracks employees. Insider reported last year that Tesla began tracking workers' office attendance using an automated system to track when staff badged in or out of its offices. The company has been known to push lofty production goals and Musk has expressed doubt about the American work ethic in the past.
Last year, the Tesla CEO said in "America people are trying to avoid going to work at all." The billionaire made the comments shortly before informing staff that they will need to commit to returning to the office for at least 40 hours a week or resign. Musk has expressed similar sentiments at Twitter as well, where the CEO has asked for staff to print up their code and send him updates of work they've done each week.
Workplace monitoring systems appears to be a growing trend. Last year, The New York Times reported that about eight out of the ten largest private US employers track staff productivity. The publication detailed multiple methods companies had employed to measure workers' productivity, from tracking mouse clicks and keystrokes to having staff take random photos to insure the workers were at their computers.
The practice of workplace surveillance has been a point of contention since the pandemic promoted the rise of remote work. In September, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said managers are plagued by "productivity paranoia" due to remote work. Though, Microsoft vice president Jared Spataro said that the company has taken a "strong stance" against worker surveillance.
"We don't think that employers should be surveilling and taking note of the activity of keystrokes and mouse clicks and those types of things because, in so many ways, we feel like that's measuring heat rather than outcome," Spataro said at the time.
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