The world's largest banks, including Swiss giants Credit Suisse and UBS, are looking more closely at their employees.
British media reported recently that Barclays Bank had installed a «blackbox» under desks. They turned out to be tracking devices which use heat and motion sensors to record how long employees are spending at their posts.
Barclays management said that it was not a question of measuring the productivity of employees.
In a report «Bloomberg» claims that banks already using algorithms to monitor traders and are looking to expand surveillance to cover more employees in the wake of the Wells Fargo scandal.
Watching Everyone
IBM have been asked by major banks to use technology to also watch retail-banking salespeople, loan officers and other bank and financial services workers.
According to the Bloomberg article Marc Andrews, a manager on the company’s Watson financial services team said some of the largest banks are now testing the software.
Asian Equivalent
There are no reports out of Asia so far of pervasive surveillance by bank management. Old fashioned peer pressure, cold stares and the realities of the bottom line drive most in the banking and financial services industry in the region.
Several institutions in the region already employ aggressive hot desk schemes where the first in to the office gets the desk of their choice and where no desk belongs to any particular employee. No personal belongings are allowed on desks either, how welcoming.
Perhaps it is just a matter of time before bankers in Asia are wondering what the strange «blackbox» is under their desk.
