For generations, the conversation about motherhood has been framed as a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-girl-boss-dream-promised-women-everything-why-so-many-now-want-out">binary choice</a>: boss babe or homemaker? Corner office or weekly playgroup? But in more recent years, those two worlds have collided, with a quiet third option emerging as a viable alternative. Enter the full-time working mom who is also a full-time caregiver for her kids. It’s not a fringe phenomenon: One 2025 <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/03/21/remote-work-parents-kids-childcare/82228037007/">survey</a> estimated that 2.3 million workers either keep their children home with them while working remotely or bring their children to the office.
Women are more likely than men to seek out these arrangements — and not just because of childcare. The flexibility that comes with remote work is increasingly seen as non-negotiable by mothers of young children. Data from the Brookings Institution <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/seven-economic-facts-about-prime-age-labor-force-participation/">found</a> that remote work is most common among parents with children under five, with mothers of young children logging the highest rates of fully remote work across all demographic groups.
When I put out a call on social media asking for mothers who were working from home without external childcare to share their stories, the response was overwhelming. No two situations were exactly alike. Some working moms had occasional help — from family, part-time nannies, or a spouse working different shifts. Others swapped childcare with other working moms. There were also plenty doing it completely alone: single mothers or married women whose husbands worked long hours outside the home.
Everyone was cobbling together a slightly different version of this seemingly impossible arrangement. What most had in common was a deep sense of gratitude, a heaping side of guilt, and the constant urge to prove themselves.
The nap time hustle is real
Molly, an SEO manager and mother to an eight-month-old and a six-year-old, does the majority of her work around her kids’ schedules. She describes her days as wholly dependent on them.
“The nap time hustle is a real thing. Sometimes I feel like I can get more done in that two-hour nap than I can in a four-hour time span when my son is awake,” she told The Daily Wire in an interview.
Molly checks email during school pickups. She gets back on her computer after the kids are in bed, often until 10 p.m., and is the first to admit that work-life separation isn’t her strong suit.
“I’m pretty awful about separating work and personal life right now, but I know that life won’t always be like this,” she said.
Kate, a content marketing writer for a fintech company with a 10-month-old, left a job she loved because its strict in-office culture left her no flexibility. Her new role pays more and allows her to work from wherever she wants.
“When I’m on a video call, I’m usually muted while [my son] throws blocks around the room at my feet,” she admitted. “I haven’t sat at my desk in months; my laptop is often precariously balanced on a surface high enough to keep him away from the keyboard.”
Nap time, when it happens, is sacred. Evenings and weekends are spent catching up. She wakes at 2 a.m. sometimes — not just because of the baby, but because her brain won’t stop working.
These mothers are staking a claim to something that doesn’t have a clean label yet: making money and achieving professional success, but also being there when the kids get home from school. Breastfeeding between meetings. Reading picture books on their lunch breaks. Being present, even imperfectly, for all of it. They’re doing it by necessity, by choice, or — more often than not — some complicated combination of the two.
There is a stigma associated with working from home with kids, though. One popular Instagram influencer with nearly 200,000 followers — who regularly shares her real name, profession, and work-from-home-with-kids content online — declined to be interviewed for this piece.
“It makes no sense with me sharing online, but something for an article feels too official,” she wrote in response to an interview request.
She wasn’t alone in her hesitation. Even on the social media thread where I solicited respondents, there was pushback from strangers. “[Women] shouldn’t be doing this,” one commenter wrote. “Let’s not normalize this.” 
The judgment comes from both sides: traditional working moms can be skeptical that someone is really pulling her weight while wrangling a toddler, and full-time stay-at-home moms sometimes assume the kids are running feral. Neither is exactly right.
Guilt that never clocks out
Unlike the influencer, dozens of full-time work-from-home moms were eager to share their strategies, triumphs, and challenges. One mom was candid with some of her tips for success.
“Full disclosure: I use a mouse jiggler to keep my Teams status green and computer from locking between the hours of 8:30 and 5,” she told The Daily Wire. But that admission doesn’t mean she’s a slacker.
In the same breath, this mom mentioned how important it is to her not to back off responsibilities or display anxiety about her workload. As part of a small team of parents with older children who largely trust her to hit her deadlines, she says the pressure to perform at pre-baby levels is constant. Still, she recognizes her most important role. 
“You are replaceable in your workplace, but the time with your children while they are young is finite and precious,” she said.
If there was one word that surfaced again and again in these conversations, it was guilt. If the moms focus on work, they feel like they’re neglecting their kids. If they step away to push their kids on the swings, they feel like they’re shortchanging their employers — even when their in-office colleagues spent the same 20 minutes making a Starbucks run.
Jenna, who works in tech sales and has a three-year-old and a four-month-old, described it by saying, “It’s so hard trying to repeatedly explain to [my daughter] that I have to work and can’t focus on her as much as I want to. And then it’s simultaneously hard to really focus on work when she’s constantly asking me to play. I feel guilty either way.”
Her employer knows her kids are at home with her and is understanding. But the voice in her head is the loudest critic. “I know that I’m way harder on myself about it than any of them are on me,” she added.
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<div id="attachment_1067407" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1067407" class="size-medium wp-image-1067407" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-523428608-300x169.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-523428608-300x169.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-523428608-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-523428608-768x432.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-523428608.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Getty Images</div>
Jessica, a director of marketing at a digital marketing agency with a two-and-a-half-year-old son, has the receipts to prove it can work.
“I have seen comments on social media from people who say that it’s not possible to work from home with kids without being a terrible employee — and I fully disagree,” she said. “I have a great working relationship with my boss, I never miss deadlines, and have received promotions and raises during my time working from home with my son.”
Not everyone is working from a home office. Laurel takes a different approach entirely: She brings her nearly two-year-old twins to the office where she works for a small vitamin and supplement company.
When she found out she was having twins, her company didn’t even have a maternity policy. Faced with the high cost of living in her state, she went to her boss — who has older children he used to bring to the office himself — and they agreed to try the arrangement on a trial basis.
That was almost two years ago. Now there’s a dedicated room in the office with two pack-and-plays, a changing table, and a sound machine. When the twins nap, the office runs normally. When they’re awake, they play in their mother’s office or attend meetings with her. She advocated for more companies thinking outside the box like this.
“I feel like everybody is just used to the status quo, and it’s just not something that we do. But I really wish that we would, because so many moms are going through this,” Laurel said of her arrangement. 
She’s floated the idea of the company hiring a part-time in-office babysitter, or creating a dedicated childcare space as an employee benefit — a model she believes is more feasible than most corporate cultures are willing to consider.
What do these mothers want employers to understand? Molly’s answer cuts to the heart of a disconnect that runs through nearly every story.
“I love seeing the term ‘flexible hours’ on job listings, but I’m not sure that most companies actually use that term correctly,&#8221; she said. &#8220;If you can find a working parent that is willing to work mornings, evenings, or weekends to make sure their job gets done and gets done well, I think you’ve found a really great employee.&#8221;
Challenging the status quo
For some of these women, the arrangement wasn’t a lifestyle choice; it was a means of survival. Micaela became a virtual assistant after leaving an abusive marriage and being financially cut off, building a career from scratch while raising a two-year-old alone.
“I feel a lot of pressure throughout the day to figure out how I’m going to fit all my hours in,&#8221; Micaela said. &#8220;Whenever my son is asleep or otherwise occupied, I feel torn between the pressure to get my hours in, take care of my home, or take care of my own self-care.”
She’s also become an advocate for how employers think about mothers more broadly.
“I think most employers undervalue mothers,” she told The Daily Wire. “Most moms are some of the hardest-working employees, and when employers are flexible and understanding in regard to children, it opens up the hiring pool and reduces work-life balance-related stress.”
Sarah, a Stitch Fix stylist and Amazon content creator in Minnesota with three children ages five, three, and almost two, has two part-time jobs totaling 40 hours a week and homeschools all three of her kids. 
“Some days, things go sideways and you’re going to feel like a failure. Some days, you’ll feel like you’ve totally got it all figured out,” she said. “The biggest benefit is that I get a front row seat to my kids growing up. Nobody knows them better than I do. There are only so many years of your kids being little — be there.”
The working from home with kids life has become a reality for millions of moms. Their children are learning independence, adaptability, and the value of hard work modeled by example. Their employers are getting employees who, by necessity, are more efficient, more motivated, and more determined to protect the life they’ve built.
Laurel put it best in the advice she’d give any mother thinking about trying this: “Try not to compare your old self to your current self because it’s easy to get in your head about productivity and all that. Just try to be grateful for the experience. In the end, you will look back and realize that it was such a blessing to have that opportunity.”
Not everyone will get that opportunity. But for the women who do, they’re not necessarily failing at both. They’re going down the long road to inventing something new.

GettyImages-1145103316

The Working Mom Shift That’s Challenging The Status Quo

Children

family

Motherhood

Remote Work

Upstream

Daily Wire host Isabel Brown joined Fox and Friends First Wednesday morning to <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6376615015112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">explain</a> why Gen Z is shunning remote work in favor of a traditional office setting.
“When you think about culturally the shift that started happening in about 2020, young people had our entire lives thrown into the metaverse against our will,” Brown said. “We started dating online, all of our friendships and relationships took place online, certainly all of our entertainment was digital, and work and school were as well.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Gen Z is ditching &#8220;work from home&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/theisabelb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@theisabelb</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@foxandfriends</a> why: &#8220;Young people had our entire lives thrust into the metaverse against our will&#8230;&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/fuziJxVIhf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/fuziJxVIhf</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1953102883244625984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“We constantly were thrust into a disconnected culture where loneliness and mental health problems started to thrive.” The World Health Organization found that anxiety and depression <a href="https://www.who.int/news/item/02-03-2022-covid-19-pandemic-triggers-25-increase-in-prevalence-of-anxiety-and-depression-worldwide" target="_blank" rel="noopener">increased</a> by 25% in the first year of the pandemic, disproportionately affecting young people.
Isabel said that Gen Z is on a “quest to rebuild meaningful connection.”
“I think the easiest button and the easiest way to do that is starting a hybrid work schedule or in person work.”
“You’re starting to see this behavior not just in the workplace but we’re ditching our dating apps and bringing back in person speed dating events in big cities all over the country, you’re looking at people really wanting to build something with their hands, to touch one another, and to have that sense of real connection,” she said.
Brown’s suggestion that Gen Z is looking for connection is supported by a recent Gallup <a href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/692675/fully-remote-work-least-popular-gen-z.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a>, which found 27% of Gen Zers say they feel lonely doing remote work, while 21% of Millennials, 15% of Gen Xers, and 10% of Boomers say the same.
According to Gallup, only 23% of Gen Zers prefer working from home, compared to 35% of every other generation.
Brown says Gen Z is increasingly disillusioned with social media acting as a replacement for in person contact.
“I think we’ve faced this paradox culturally and it&#8217;s a question left for our generation to answer: how do we responsibly balance the role of technology in connecting us, while also preventing that isolation and loneliness that often is hiding behind the screen?”
“I think this is why you’re watching Gen Z for example lead the religious resurgence happening in America right now, it&#8217;s young people that are flooding church pews on Sunday morning and reviving church communities at Catholic churches across the country and having mass baptism events on our college campuses,” she added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Gen Z is ditching &#8220;work from home&#8221; <a href="https://twitter.com/theisabelb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@theisabelb</a> tells <a href="https://twitter.com/foxandfriends?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@foxandfriends</a> why: &#8220;Young people had our entire lives thrust into the metaverse against our will&#8230;&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/fuziJxVIhf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pic.twitter.com/fuziJxVIhf</a>
— Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDailyWire/status/1953102883244625984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">August 6, 2025</a></blockquote>
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“That real sense of community with the people around you can never be replaced by an algorithm or a social media feed.”
Brown, a leading Gen Z conservative commentator, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/meet-isabel-brown-the-daily-wires-newest-host" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> last month that she was joining The Daily Wire. “The Isabel Brown Show” launches this fall on DailyWire+.

virtual learning

WATCH: Isabel Brown Explains Why Gen Z is Rejecting Remote Work

Fox News

Gen Z

Isabel Brown

Religion

According to Iowa GOP senator Joni Ernst, some federal employees who were forced to go back to work rather than work from home showed up at work only to protest being there.
“We actually had workers that showed up at the office to protest having to come back to work at the office,” she told Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo. “So we’re finding all kinds of things with the DOGE work, the SQUEAL work that I have done for ten years, and thank goodness we have President Trump and DOGE, the Office of Government Efficiency, that’s finally cracking down on these types of activities.”
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You can’t make this up…
Federal employees showed up to the office — not to work — but to protest returning to work.<a href="https://twitter.com/DOGE?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DOGE</a> and I are fighting to get Washington working for YOU! <a href="https://t.co/qrriphp0Fn">pic.twitter.com/qrriphp0Fn</a>
&mdash; Joni Ernst (@SenJoniErnst) <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJoniErnst/status/1910000000177758594?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2025</a></blockquote>
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The day President Trump was inaugurated, he issued a presidential <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/return-to-in-person-work/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> that stated:
<blockquote>
Heads of all departments and agencies in the executive branch of Government shall, as soon as practicable, take all necessary steps to terminate remote work arrangements and require employees to return to work in-person at their respective duty stations on a full-time basis, provided that the department and agency heads shall make exemptions they deem necessary.
</blockquote>
Last Thursday, Ernst delineated some of the shocking remote-work abuses she had been made aware of, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PelATbSTI8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">telling</a> a Senate Homeland Security Committee hearing:
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A Veterans Affairs manager responsible for scheduling veterans appointments posted on social media that he was “phoning it in from a bubble bath” while calls to the VA have gone unanswered. An Army veteran gave up on getting mental healthcare from the VA because after years of trying to get an appointment, he met with a therapist who “spent the appointment singing the praises of remote work with a cat draped around her neck.” He said that it was such a disaster that “now I’m just on my meds doing my best.” A HUD employee was arrested for drunk driving at 3:30 in the afternoon on a Friday and may have been paid for time spent sitting in jail, HUD had no idea until I told them.  For more than three years, a Social Security employee was running a home inspection business. Meanwhile, his mother was responding to his emails.
</blockquote>

Senators Meet For Their Policy Luncheons On Capitol Hill

‘You Can’t Make This Up’: Ernst Says Remote Workers Came Back Only To Protest Returning To Office

Joni Ernst

The White House anticipates that between 5 and 10 percent of federal employees will take buyouts, leading to a savings of $100 billion annually, it said in a memo to Republican allies obtained by The Daily Wire.
The Trump administration on Tuesday offered <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fork-in-the-road-trump-makes-offer-for-millions-of-federal-workers-to-resign">deferred resignations</a>, allowing employees to get paid through September if they decide to leave by February 6.
The memo said the purpose of the offer was &#8220;to make sure that all federal workers are on board with the new administration’s plan to have federal employees in office.&#8221; Citing a Daily Wire report, it said &#8220;We’re five years past COVID and just <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/only-6-of-feds-work-from-an-office-full-time-and-some-arent-working-at-all-audit-finds" target="_blank" rel="noopener">6 percent</a> of federal employees work full-time in office. That is unacceptable.&#8221;
The offer sent to all employees described the deferred resignation as a way for employees who are accustomed to working from home and do not want to change their routine to be exempted from a return-to-the-office mandate. It said they could continue in some form of remote job, or might be placed on leave, until September 30.
But the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) later sweetened the offer to be more like a straight buyout, publishing a <a href="https://www.opm.gov/fork/faq" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FAQ</a> that said people who took the deal would not be expected to do any work, except in rare cases.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt explained the justification for the buyout in a statement:
American taxpayers pay for the salaries of federal government employees, and therefore deserve employees working on their behalf who actually show up to work in our wonderful federal buildings, also paid for by taxpayers. If they don’t want to work in the office and contribute to making America great again, then they are free to choose a different line of work, and the Trump Administration will provide a very generous payout of 8 months.
The offer gives federal employees ample time to find a new job in the private sector, assuming they have marketable skills. It avoids impediments to firing federal employees, like <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/house-republicans-target-federal-unions-after-11th-hour-deals-tie-trumps-hands-on-remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">union contracts</a> and appeals. It also gives an easy and appealing out to federal employees who object to working for President Donald Trump, leaving him with a workforce less likely to subvert his initiatives.
The offer to employees, titled &#8220;<a href="https://www.opm.gov/fork">Fork in the Road</a>,&#8221; noted that there is no certainty that those who don&#8217;t choose the buyout will remain employed.
&#8220;If you choose to remain in your current position, we thank you for your renewed focus on serving the American people to the best of your abilities and look forward to working together as part of an improved federal workforce. At this time, we cannot give you full assurance regarding the certainty of your position or agency but should your position be eliminated you will be treated with dignity and will be afforded the protections in place for such positions,&#8221; it said.

Stock photo of an empty office building

White House Expects 5-10% Of Employees Will Accept Buyouts, Saving $100 Billion

Deep State

Donald Trump

&#8220;Shark Tank&#8221; star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/great-at-killing-jobs-shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-rips-aoc-dems-on-cnn-airwaves" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kevin O&#8217;Leary</a> pushed back on Martha Stewart&#8217;s dire warning to Americans to get back to the office, arguing the &#8220;economy has changed radically.&#8221;
During a Thursday appearance on <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/media/kevin-oleary-answers-martha-stewart-rampage-against-remote-work-people-want-work-war-zone-cities" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Fox News</a>&#8216; &#8220;Outnumbered,&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-boosts-elon-musk-bid-slams-twitter-censorship-says-fire-board-members" target="_blank" rel="noopener">O&#8217;Leary</a> was asked about Stewart&#8217;s comments that &#8220;America&#8221; could &#8220;go down the drain&#8221; if people don&#8217;t go back to working in offices. He said the problem is people don&#8217;t feel safe anymore working in places like New York City and San Francisco due to the rise in crime.
&#8220;I want to make a point here about the economy that&#8217;s changed because I live and breathe it every day with our portfolio of companies,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary said. &#8220;And getting the data is what&#8217;s interesting to me. We found out now, we&#8217;ve made the assumption two years ago that 15% wouldn&#8217;t return. We&#8217;re wrong. It&#8217;s 40.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
NEW NORMAL: &#39;Shark Tank&#39; star Kevin O&#39;Leary reacts to Martha Stewart&#39;s &#39;rampage&#39; against remote work.<a href="https://t.co/9fXVYgJYeD">https://t.co/9fXVYgJYeD</a> <a href="https://t.co/XC3ClujvZs">pic.twitter.com/XC3ClujvZs</a>
&mdash; FOX Business (@FoxBusiness) <a href="https://twitter.com/FoxBusiness/status/1667139510260432903?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 9, 2023</a></blockquote>
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&#8220;And here are the areas of the sectors of the economy that they are not returning,&#8221; he added. &#8220;Accounting, compliance, financial services and logistics. These are the jobs that used to be in cubicles in the basement of corporations, particularly here in New York City. You can see about 50% of the offices that are B-grade are empty. They&#8217;re never going to fill up again. They&#8217;re going to have to be converted into condos or climate-controlled storage. &#8221;
&#8220;The economy has changed radically,&#8221; O&#8217;Leary continued. &#8220;The problem with saying everybody has to work in the office is you won&#8217;t be able to hire the best talent. When we went out for financial services, people in our operating company, the best talent, told us, If I have to come into an office and sit in a cubicle and drive for 45 minutes each day into a war-torn city like San Francisco, which we were trying to hire in, I&#8217;m not doing it. I don&#8217;t want to get shot on my way to work.&#8221;
<a href="https://onelink.to/dwapp" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-describedby="sk-tooltip-9096" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://onelink.to/dwapp&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1686410636236000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1QNvjWCAeH0Hq0bUFtKCbA">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILYWIRE+ APP</a>
&#8220;They&#8217;re war zones,&#8221; he said about cities like Chicago, San Francisco, parts of L.A., and NYC. &#8220;So, they want to work where they get their jobs done.&#8221;
The comments came after Stewart said that she&#8217;s going on a &#8220;rampage&#8221; to get people back in the office.
&#8220;You can&#8217;t possibly get everything done working three days a week in the office and two days remotely,&#8221; <a href="https://footwearnews.com/business/business-news/martha-stewart-womens-empowerment-aging-1203472556/?mod=article_inline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stewart</a> said in an interview published Monday. &#8220;Look at the success of France with their stupid… you know, off for August, blah blah blah.&#8221;
&#8220;That&#8217;s not a very thriving country,&#8221; she added. &#8220;Should America go down the drain because people don&#8217;t want to go back to work?&#8221;

Kevin O’Leary, Martha Stewart

‘Shark Tank’ Star Pushes Back On Martha Stewart’s Remote Work Comments: ‘Economy Has Changed Radically’

'Shark Tank' Star Pushes Back On Martha Stewart's Remote Work Comments: 'Economy Has Changed Radically'

Celebrities

Entertainment

Martha Stewart

U.S.

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/tiktok" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a> users are fascinated by “Bare Minimum Mondays,” a trend which encourages employees to exert as little effort as possible on the first day of the work week.
Marisa Jo Mayes, a TikTok creator based in Phoenix who resigned from her corporate job, coined the phrase “Bare Minimum Mondays,” which has now garnered more than two million <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummondays?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">views</a> on the platform. Videos posted by Mayes, who now says she is self-employed, depict the 29-year-old completing various chores around her apartment and listening to podcasts before she starts her workday or schedules any meetings.
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo/video/7207599156926500142" data-video-id="7207599156926500142">
<section><a title="@itsmarisajo" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@itsmarisajo</a> Bare Minimum Monday: Chores Edition ⏱️🧼🎧 <a title="bareminimummonday" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummonday?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummonday</a> <a title="bareminimummondays" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummondays?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummondays</a> <a title="wfh" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/wfh?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#wfh</a> <a title="selfemployed" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/selfemployed?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#selfemployed</a> <a title="selfemployedlife" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/selfemployedlife?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#selfemployedlife</a> <a title="burnoutrecovery" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/burnoutrecovery?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#burnoutrecovery</a> <a title="productivitytips" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/productivitytips?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#productivitytips</a> <a title="♬ Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Theme-From-A-Summer-Place-6887967101529655297?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Theme From A Summer Place &#8211; Percy Faith</a></section>
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Mayes realizes that most people with a traditional office job do not have the luxury of delaying the start of their workday or otherwise presenting minimal effort to their employers. She advised her followers in the corporate world to “remove any wishful thinking tasks from your list” and save efforts to “overachieve” for Tuesday.
“One thing I know would have helped me when I was in corporate is to think to myself, Where might I be putting unnecessary pressure on myself?” she continued in the video. “What are you overly stressed about that you just don’t need to be stressed about?”
<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" style="max-width: 605px; min-width: 325px;" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo/video/7194547082965847338" data-video-id="7194547082965847338">
<section><a title="@itsmarisajo" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@itsmarisajo?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@itsmarisajo</a> Replying to @alysialovesmakeup This shift would’ve saved me so much stress &amp; overwhelm back in my corporate days 😵‍💫 <a title="bareminimummonday" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummonday?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummonday</a> <a title="bareminimummondays" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/bareminimummondays?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#bareminimummondays</a> <a title="worklifewellbeing" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/worklifewellbeing?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#worklifewellbeing</a> <a title="burnoutrecovery" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/burnoutrecovery?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#burnoutrecovery</a> <a title="wfhtips" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/wfhtips?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#wfhtips</a> <a title="♬ Theme From A Summer Place - Percy Faith" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/Theme-From-A-Summer-Place-6887967101529655297?refer=embed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">♬ Theme From A Summer Place &#8211; Percy Faith</a></section>
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Mayes said in an <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/03/02/i-created-bare-minimum-mondays-gen-zs-latest-low-effort-work-trend/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with The New York Post that the philosophy has “completely overhauled” her relationship with work and hopes there are effects throughout the economy. “It’s more of an opportunity for people to start untethering themselves from hustle culture, little by little, until corporate America catches up,” she commented. “The tide is turning, and I feel like employees are tired of trading their well-being to perform well at work.”
The “Bare Minimum Monday” trend drew immediate comparisons to “Quiet Quitting,” an approach to work in which employees refuse to exert more effort than the bare minimum required by their job descriptions or resign from their positions without a two-week notice. The phenomena occur as prominent technology companies and other white-collar employers <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/technology-firms-send-diversity-czars-packing-in-bid-to-become-more-profitable" target="_blank" rel="noopener">downsize</a> staff to increase profitability: more than 94,000 workers have been dismissed from prominent technology firms in the first two months of 2023, according to a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/#:~:text=More%20than%2046%2C000%20workers%20in,person%20layoff%20announcements%20this%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Crunchbase, even after companies in the sector dismissed some 140,000 positions last year.
The layoffs come as young employees at leading firms shared viral day-in-the-life videos on TikTok which showed them enjoying free perks while completing minimal work. Nicole Tsai, who previously released a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/former-google-employee-goes-viral-with-day-in-the-life-video-series-ending-in-layoff-news" target="_blank" rel="noopener">series</a> of videos boasting about the amenities-packed offices at Google, completed her video series with news that she had been laid off, while Riley Rojas, a project manager at Meta, posted videos of the company’s generous perks before the company <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/video-of-23-year-old-meta-employee-enjoying-perks-goes-viral-as-investor-tells-zuckerberg-to-cut-headcount" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reduced</a> their payrolls at the behest of worried investors.
Many employees in the technology sector are also incensed as executives roll back virtual work policies established during the lockdown-induced recession. Thousands of employees at Amazon, which is now requiring staff members to report to the office at least three times per week, have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-amazon-employees-revolt-as-ceo-makes-them-show-up-in-office-at-least-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">started</a> an internal Slack channel meant to challenge the end of fully remote work, while Starbucks employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/making-our-lives-more-difficult-starbucks-office-staff-revolt-as-company-makes-them-show-up-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petitioned</a> management in the wake of a similar announcement.
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Employees generally prefer virtual work arrangements because of reduced commuting time and more flexibility, but costs for employers are often significant: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work during the lockdown-induced recession has eroded confidence that employees are remaining productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.

Man sleeping on the couch exhausted

‘Bare Minimum Mondays’: New TikTok Trend Encourages Taking It Easy On First Day Of The Work Week

New TikTok Trend Encourages Taking It Easy On First Day Of The Work Week

Economy

TikTok

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/starbucks" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Starbucks</a> office workers drafted a letter to management on Wednesday as executives mandated a reduction in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> opportunities.
Employees within commuting distance of the company’s Seattle headquarters must travel to the office on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and a third day determined by their teams, according to a <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/11/starbucks-orders-return-to-office.html#:~:text=Starbucks%20corporate%20employees%20will%20be,to%20two%20days%20a%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> seen by CNBC earlier this year. Several dozen office workers created a <a href="https://starbuckspartnersunited.org/?page_id=31" target="_blank" rel="noopener">petition</a> asserting that the firm would diminish productivity and violate trust with employees due to the change.
“This behavior of not listening to partners has also impacted us, the support partners. An unforeseen and poorly planned ‘return to office’ mandate is making our lives more difficult, prioritizing corporate control over productivity, diversity and inclusion, and individual job satisfaction,” the employees wrote. “Our mission of serving ‘one cup, one person, and one neighborhood at a time’ is explicitly ignored when corporate policies attempt to eliminate the individuality of our partners and stores.”
The petition added that “more is at an all-time low” and urged management to let teams “have a voice in setting the working conditions that make them happiest and most effective.” Employees generally prefer virtual work arrangements because of reduced commuting time and more flexibility, but costs for employers can outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent that the policies can enable: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work during the lockdown-induced recession has eroded confidence that employees are remaining productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
The pivot away from remote work has generated controversy within some of the nation’s largest companies, especially in the technology sector. Amazon, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months, is likewise asking staff members to report to the office at least three times per week. Thousands of employees <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/thousands-of-amazon-employees-revolt-as-ceo-makes-them-show-up-in-office-at-least-three-days-per-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reacted</a> by starting an internal Slack channel meant to challenge the end of fully remote work; four in five members threatened in one informal survey to search for new positions elsewhere because of the policy change.
The Starbucks employees also called for executives to “respect federal labor laws” and permit store partners to freely vote on unionization. The petition comes after nearly 300 Starbucks locations <a href="https://sbworkersunited.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">elected</a> to form labor unions over the past two years and on the same day as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) announced that the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee would decide on issuing a subpoena for Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz for allegedly failing to comply with federal labor standards.
“While Howard Schultz is a multi-billionaire who runs a very profitable multinational corporation, he must understand that he and his company are not above the law,” Sanders said in a <a href="https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-announces-help-committee-vote-on-subpoena-for-starbucks-ceo-howard-schultz/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">press release</a>. “These violations include the illegal firing of more than a dozen Starbucks workers. For nearly a year, I and many of my colleagues in the Senate have repeatedly asked Mr. Schultz to respect the constitutional right of workers at Starbucks to form a union and to stop violating federal labor laws. Mr. Schultz has failed to respond to those requests.”
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Starbucks has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/america-has-become-unsafe-starbucks-ceo-rips-politicians-in-decaying-cities-after-closing-16-urban-stores" target="_blank" rel="noopener">closed</a> several restaurants in major cities due to concerns over crime and homelessness, a phenomenon which followed the company opening their restaurants and bathrooms to people who have not made purchases. The policy change occurred after an incident involving two black men who were arrested for remaining in a Philadelphia store without buying any items.

Starbucks

‘Making Our Lives More Difficult’: Starbucks Office Staff Revolt As Company Makes Them Show Up Three Days Per Week

Starbucks Office Staff Revolt As Company Makes Them Show Up Three Days Per Week

Business

Labor Unions

Employees at many <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">companies</a> are shirking efforts from management to end <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> and introduce a return to physical office spaces, according to a new <a href="https://www.payscale.com/research-and-insights/cbpr?utm_campaign=CBPR23&amp;utm_medium=Org-social" target="_blank" rel="noopener">survey</a> from Payscale.
The workforce software company revealed in its most recent Compensation Best Practices Report that 51% of surveyed companies are experiencing resistance from employees who do not want to return to traditional offices, a phenomenon which occurs even as executives say lockdown mandates affirmed the importance of creating relationships between team members.
Payscale found that companies have no intention to entirely rid themselves of physical office spaces: 27% of respondent organizations will have traditional work environments this year and 31% will have hybrid environments, while only 11% offer fully remote arrangements.
The return toward more traditional work arrangements has produced controversy within some of the nation’s largest firms, particularly in the technology sector. Amazon, which <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months and implemented a freeze on incremental hires in the corporate workforce, is now asking staff members to report to the office at least three times per week. Thousands of employees responded by starting an internal Slack channel meant to challenge the end of fully remote work; four in five members threatened in one informal survey to look for new positions elsewhere because of the policy.
Other prominent companies, such as Walmart and Disney, have likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/back-to-work-disney-employees-told-to-show-up-in-the-office-at-least-four-days-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pivoted</a> away from their virtual work arrangements in recent weeks. Employees of the former company must work at least twice per week from physical offices, while employees at the latter must work from offices four days per week, preferably between Monday and Thursday. Employees tend to prefer remote work arrangements because of time savings from avoided commutes and improved work-life balance.
David Bahnsen, the founder of Manhattan-based wealth management firm The Bahnsen Group, said in an interview with The Daily Wire that executives no longer believe that maintaining large quantities of remote workers is a positive course for their firms.
“The actions by companies speak for themselves: employees are not more productive at home, and the loss of accountability, firm culture, organic mentorship and training, and general team chemistry has been disastrous,” Bahnsen remarked. “Many large-company CEOs have told me even with hybrid work they have effectively created three or four day weekends every week for employees.”
The costs for employers garnered as a result of remote work can indeed outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent that the arrangements sometimes enable: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work has eroded confidence that employees are staying productive, according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft. Payscale found that some 50% of companies with remote options monitor employees who work virtually, while only some of the 26% of companies that do monitor employees use the insights to track or manage productivity.
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“There was a ‘shiny object’ flirtation with this work-from-home element that many company leaders bought into for a time, but reality has set in and the inherent benefits of employees working together in the office has become undeniable for all,” added Bahnsen, who expects that more prominent companies will scrap their remote work arrangements in the near future.

Late night working from home in new dress code

‘Reality Has Set In’: Majority Of Firms See Resistance From Employees Who Do Not Want Remote Work To End

Majority Of Companies See Resistance From Employees Who Do Not Want Remote Work To End

Jobs

<a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/amazon" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon</a> employees are furious as the company rolls back <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/remote-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">remote work</a> arrangements, with some threatening to quit and others drafting petitions in reaction to a recent announcement that they must report to the office at least three times per week.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/large-companies-roll-back-remote-work-make-employees-show-up-to-the-office-at-least-part-of-the-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to employees on Friday that the company believes “teams tend to find ways to work through hard and complex trade-offs faster” when they are in the same physical location. Shortly after the announcement, hundreds of Amazon staffers started joining an internal Slack channel called Remote Advocacy; there were more than 14,000 members of the channel as of Tuesday, according to a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-employees-plan-to-fight-against-return-to-office-policy-2023-2" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Business Insider.
Nearly 80% of workers in the channel claimed they would start to look for another job because of the new policy. &#8220;This is going to be absolute chaos and make everyone&#8217;s work distracted for probably a quarter, maybe longer,&#8221; one disgruntled employee wrote. &#8220;It&#8217;s hard to be productive with so much uncertainty injected into our lives.&#8221;
The shift toward more traditional work arrangements, however, comes as Amazon seeks to downsize amid macroeconomic tumult and a decline in consumer demand that followed the lockdown-induced recession. Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/amazon-dismisses-thousands-of-employees-in-bid-to-reduce-costs" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dismissed</a> some 18,000 employees over the past several months and implemented a freeze on incremental hires in the corporate workforce.
Employees in the Slack channel nevertheless drafted petitions against the return to office policy. &#8220;We, the undersigned Amazonians, are responding by petitioning for the right to choose where to work, including remote locations,&#8221; an early version of the document said, according to Business Insider. The petition included survey data which found 56% of Amazon employees desire “monthly sync-ups in the office,” while 31% want to work in the office one or two days per week.
Employees tend to prefer remote work arrangements because of time savings from avoided commutes, as well as flexibility to balance work and personal matters, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup. The costs for employers, however, can outweigh the benefits of attracting and retaining talent sometimes produced through virtual work policies: 85% of managers believe the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Jassy and other executives said the lockdowns affirmed the importance of creating meaningful relationships between team members. “It’s easier to learn, model, practice, and strengthen our culture when we’re in the office together most of the time and surrounded by our colleagues,” he wrote to employees. “When you’re in-person, people tend to be more engaged, observant, and attuned to what’s happening in the meetings and the cultural clues being communicated.”
Other companies, such as Walmart and Disney, have likewise <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/back-to-work-disney-employees-told-to-show-up-in-the-office-at-least-four-days-a-week" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pivoted</a> away from their virtual work arrangements in recent weeks. Employees of the former company must work at least twice per week from physical offices, while employees at the latter must work from offices four days per week, preferably between Monday and Thursday.
Many firms have included carveouts that allow top performers to continue working from home. Walmart will permit some employees to remain full-time remote staff members even as they force others to relocate while technology hubs across the nation are shuttered; Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a leading skeptic of virtual work arrangements, has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that he would consider allowing “particularly exceptional contributors” at the automaker to work remotely.

Amazon

Thousands Of Amazon Employees Revolt As CEO Makes Them Show Up In Office At Least Three Days Per Week

Thousands Of Amazon Employees Revolt As CEO Makes Them Show Up In Office

Fired

Large Companies Roll Back Remote Work, Make Employees Show Up To The Office At Least Part Of The Week

Companies Make Workers Show Up To The Office At Least Part Of The Week

Big Tech

Walmart

Zoom announced on Tuesday that the <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">company</a> would dismiss 15% of its workforce as the demand surge caused by government <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lockdowns" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lockdown</a> mandates continues to subside.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan said in a <a href="https://blog.zoom.us/a-message-from-eric-yuan-ceo-of-zoom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">memo</a> to the company that some 1,300 individuals would lose their positions. Beyond the slowdown in new demand, he referenced broader <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">economic</a> uncertainty and its effects on customers to spend on services.
“We built Zoom to remove the friction that businesses felt when collaborating. Our trajectory was forever changed during the pandemic when the world faced one of its toughest challenges, and I am proud of the way we mobilized as a company to keep people connected,” the executive wrote. “To make this possible, we needed to staff up rapidly to support the quick rise of users on our platform and their evolving needs.”
The company tripled in size within two years, but neglected to “take as much time as we should have to thoroughly analyze our teams or assess if we were growing sustainably, toward the highest priorities.” Members of the executive team will reduce their base salaries by 20% and forfeit their corporate bonuses, while Yuan will pass on his bonus and 98% of his salary.
Shares for Zoom increased 9.9% on Tuesday following the announcement. The company’s stock has declined 40.7% over the past year, significantly underperforming the S&amp;P 500 Index and the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite.
Many companies allowed employees to work from home when lockdowns shuttered offices across the country three years ago. As the mandates subsided, however, many firms have experienced difficulties drawing workers back to the office. Time savings from avoided commutes, as well as new opportunities to more easily balance work and personal matters, are primary benefits cited by remote and hybrid workers, according to a <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/355907/remote-work-persisting-trending-permanent.aspx" target="_blank" rel="noopener">poll</a> from Gallup.
On the other hand, costs induced by virtual work arrangements are palpable for employers: 85% of business leaders say the shift to hybrid work “has made it challenging to have confidence that employees are being productive,” according to a <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work-is-just-work" target="_blank" rel="noopener">study</a> from Microsoft.
Several executives have voiced a preference for employees to cease remote work. Tesla CEO Elon Musk <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/musk-remote-work-is-no-longer-acceptable-at-tesla" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> employees at the electric automaker that work-from-home is “no longer” acceptable and commented on social media that those who disagree with the new rule “should pretend to work somewhere else.” During a meeting with Twitter employees before his acquisition of the social media company was finalized, Musk was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/freedom-of-speech-and-freedom-of-reach-elon-musk-tells-twitter-employees-users-should-be-able-to-tweet-pretty-outrageous-things" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked</a> about remote work, leading him to assert that working “on location physically” is far superior to other arrangements.
The dismissals at Zoom follow headcount reductions among other technology companies. Microsoft, Google, and Amazon <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/the-white-house-brushed-off-concerns-about-mass-firings-at-microsoft-and-amazon-now-google-is-laying-off-employees-too" target="_blank" rel="noopener">revealed</a> their intentions to decrease payrolls by more than 40,000 combined workers over the past few weeks as key investors noted that rapid increases in compensation has caused lower profitability. Many companies increased hires after the lockdown-induced recession in response to elevated consumer demand.
More than 66,000 workers have been dismissed from leading technology firms in the first month of 2023, according to a <a href="https://news.crunchbase.com/startups/tech-layoffs/#:~:text=More%20than%2046%2C000%20workers%20in,person%20layoff%20announcements%20this%20week." target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Crunchbase, even after companies in the sector dismissed some 140,000 positions last year.

Key Speakers At The BoxWorks 2019 Conference

Zoom Drastically Downsizes As Lockdown Demand Falters, CEO Will Reduce His Own Salary By 98%

Zoom Drastically Downsizes After Lockdown Demand Falters

Lockdowns

Unemployment

For decades, companies have kept an eye on employee productivity. The utilization of monitoring technology to track job performance isn’t new for many fields. In lower paying, hourly jobs, for example, tracking employees has been normal behavior for quite some time.
But now more industries, faced with an increasing number of remote employees, are rolling out innovative forms of workforce monitoring, and not everyone is on board.
For example, grocery cashiers at Kroger, UPS drivers, and Amazon factory workers have all experienced tracking. Now, higher-paying, white collar jobs are starting to implement it and employees aren’t happy. The constant monitoring could make workers feel less trusted and push them to do their work in a less ethical way.
The Daily Wire spoke to Chase Thiel, an assistant professor at the University of Wyoming and an expert in business ethics. He said Microsoft can monitor workers’ movements and even their heart rate while they work.
“Microsoft allows employees — they can wear a smartwatch and then it&#8217;s got this app on it. [That] collects these biometrics, like heart rates, et cetera. And it can give employees a wellness score and I don&#8217;t know how frequently it gives them this wellness score, but it kind of collects information about the employee,” he said.
Thiel also described a &#8220;voluntary program&#8221; where &#8220;they asked employees if they would like to be implanted with a microchip that essentially would act like a company badge &#8230; but it was just implanted, but it would also &#8230; collect information about employees, their whereabouts, their activity level, things like that, their body rhythms, had the potential to do all of those things.&#8221;
&#8220;Very extreme,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I haven&#8217;t heard of another example of a company doing something like that, but &#8230; it gives you an illustration of what kinds of technology exist.&#8221;
There has been an increase in monitoring within certain physician jobs, academic officials, architects, and even people who work in nursing homes.
The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/08/14/business/worker-productivity-tracking.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">highlighted radiologists</a> who were shown reports of their periods of inactivity and also given insight into how their work compares to their coworkers.
Workers in higher paying jobs now complain about the practice in much the same way blue collar workers have pushed back against it in the past. 
J.P. Morgan measures how its workers use their time during their workdays with a software <a href="https://www.efinancialcareers.com/news/2022/05/jpmorgan-spying-on-employees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">called</a> &#8220;Workplace Activity Data Utility.” It <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jp-morgan-chase-secretive-of-employee-tracking-sytems-2022-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tracks their time</a> on Zoom calls, when they’re in the office, and how much time they use certain applications.
Barclays Bank used to send messages to employees that would prompt them to work harder. One example was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/markmurphy/2020/02/21/barclays-forced-to-stop-big-brother-employee-tracking-system-after-backlash/?sh=3d0a79ab6ac1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a message</a> that said, “Not enough time in the Zone yesterday,” but they abandoned the practice after workers pushed back.
With the rise of remote work, employers can hypothetically keep better track of people who aren’t working in the office.
However, some studies question whether these monitoring practices are even effective.
Research by the Harvard Business Review <a href="https://hbr.org/2022/06/monitoring-employees-makes-them-more-likely-to-break-rules">showed</a> that workers who were monitored were much more likely to break rules, work slowly on purpose, take breaks that weren’t allowed and even steal office items. They did another study that showed workers who were told they were being tracked were more likely to cheat when completing assignments.
Advice on how to trick the trackers, though, can be found on <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katrant/video/7054782854823185710?is_from_webapp=v1&amp;item_id=7054782854823185710&amp;lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok.</a> One way is with a “mouse jiggler,” which makes it look like someone is active.
The legal side is another component. In most states, employers have leeway in how they choose to implement these tracking measures. 
Thiel explained the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986, saying, “as long as there&#8217;s a business necessity or &#8230; an employer can demonstrate a business necessity, they have the right to monitor employees in a variety of ways.”
New York&#8217;s <a href="https://www.natlawreview.com/article/new-york-employers-required-to-notify-employees-electronic-monitoring" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new law that started this year</a> invoked new requirements on private employers that makes them tell employees they are electronically tracking them.
 Connecticut and Delaware also put laws in place related to watching employees, but attempts to create similar legislation in California stalled because business groups pushed back on it, saying it could actually infringe on employee privacy.
CalChamber, a business advocacy group, <a href="https://advocacy.calchamber.com/2022/04/26/calchamber-tags-ab-1651-as-a-job-killer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> the California bill would actually decrease workers’ privacy because it would cause employers to look at all of an employee&#8217;s communications to verify if the employer is even allowed to keep or look at that information. They also said it would eliminate small businesses “for even a good faith mistake due to its excessively punitive enforcement mechanisms.”
Some of the discontent with employee tracking might stem from a broader discomfort with being watched. Most Americans are not <a href="https://termly.io/resources/articles/data-privacy-statistics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">aware</a> of data and privacy rules in the U.S..
 Lawmakers and citizens are starting to raise the alarm on how such tracking might be dangerous when it comes to national security. 
Recent examples of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/after-paying-twitter-millions-fbi-says-other-possible-big-tech-payments-are-protected-for-law-enforcement-purposes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FBI infiltration</a> of social media giant Twitter reveal how government entities are able to view and access user information. The use of foreign governments getting their hands on information about Americans, such as that of China when it comes to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/tiktok-banned-from-devices-issued-by-u-s-house-of-representatives" target="_blank" rel="noopener">TikTok</a>, is also a concern many across the country share.
While some are concerned with companies keeping an eye on their workers, the true threat may lie right in their very hands.
This article has been revised for clarity.

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