Stevens also mentioned that what she calls “surveillance‑state technology”—applications that assess work engagement by aggregating personal data—are one of the sources of her feeling over‑managed. Although freelancing today lacks benefits and has unstable income, she feels relaxed because she can control her own time and work pace.
In recent years, employers have been using so‑called “bossware”—老板软件—to track employee productivity. A 2022 survey by The New York Times found that across occupations and salary levels, employers monitor keyboard usage frequency, mouse movement, and call logs, and deduct time they deem the employee is “slacking off.”
This type of monitoring fails to consider certain things, such as communication and thinking among colleagues—yes, thinking with your brain—and let alone providing warehouse workers with necessary breaks to avoid physical overexertion. At least older employees remember the era before such pervasive monitoring, and now their positions are senior enough to have the leverage to resist extreme surveillance.