Exclusive: Many tech workers would quit if employer recorded them

Recreated from Morning Consult; Chart: Axios Visuals

Roughly half of tech employees who today say they are not monitored at work indicated they would resign rather than be subject to facial recognition or having their employer record audio or video of them, according to results of a new Morning Consult poll, shared exclusively with Axios.

Why it matters: Employers are experimenting with new methods of keeping tabs on an increasingly remote workforce, including the use of video recording and facial recognition technology.

By the numbers: The survey also found that more than half of tech workers would not take a new job in their field if the company used a surveillance technique.

  • Roughly 7 in 10 tech workers said they believe their company does not surveil them at work.

Be smart: Employers have the right to do quite a bit of monitoring in the workplace, especially of what is happening with company gear.

  • But in a tight labor market, employees can also vote with their feet on what they are willing to put up with.
  • And the equation changes a lot when, as is often now the case, an employee’s office is their home.

What they’re saying: Speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum last week, Tim Noonan of the International Trade Union Confederation called out the increased surveillance of workers ranging from Amazon delivery drivers to those working from home.

  • “It is running out of control,” Noonan said.

Read More