What Wells Fargo's 'mouse-jiggler' scandal says about the problem with work right now

By Venessa Wong and Andrew Keshner

'This idea that you must be always on doesn't suit everybody's work styles'

A chance for a bathroom break without questions from the boss.

Cover for a 10-minute snack, or laying down to rest one's back without their laptop going to sleep.

Providing a moment to deal with small children nearby.

These are some of the reasons people in online user reviews say they are buying mouse jigglers, which are devices that mimic the seemingly random moves of a computer cursor held by a hand hard at work.

Mouse jigglers and other gadgets to artificially create keyboard activity are in the news after Wells Fargo (WFC) fired more than a dozen workers in remote and hybrid jobs for simulating keystrokes on their computers.

The rise of mouse jigglers highlights the methods employees are now using to evade management scrutiny as remote and hybrid work becomes routine for many white-collar jobs.

But if some of the customer reviews of mouse jigglers are any clue, it may also be a symptom of people struggling to keep up with the always-on, always-available expectations of their jobs.

As one jiggler buyer wrote this month in an Amazon (AMZN) review praising a $34.99 "mouse-mover" device: "If my mouse hasn't moved for 4 minutes, I go into idle & that time goes against my productivity, raises, & bonuses. I no longer freak out when I run to the bathroom or grab something to drink. I need my job, but I also need to keep my geriatric bladder happy. This jiggler is saving my sanity, I just wish it had movement options."

The very existence of technologies like mouse jigglers suggests employers' expectations may have crossed a line, workplace experts told MarketWatch. "We all need breaks. There's something draconian about a workplace that doesn't allow people to take reasonable breaks," said Christopher Wong Michaelson, co-author of "Is Your Work Worth It?" and a professor of ethics and business law at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

As for the possibility these workers were faking productivity for long periods of time, Michaelson said it is "an ethical failure on the part of the employee to fake it - but it also seems like a moral failure on the part of the employer to give your employees such [crappy] work, that they hate it so much that they can't bring themselves to do it."

The expectation that all workers must actively engage with their keyboard for eight hours a day to prove their productivity is not only unrealistic, but it's also not the standard by which managers are typically evaluated, Michaelson noted.

"Some people work faster than others. Some people are more productive in bursts and then breaks. Others work at a more kind of consistent pace," he said. "This idea that you must be always on doesn't suit everybody's work styles.".

Are employees lazy, or overworked?

Looking through the mouse jigglers for sale on Amazon, it's easy to find multiple products using "undetectable" in their descriptions.

"Managers and leaders want to believe this narrative that people aren't productive and are always looking for ways to get out of work, when in reality, people work towards what they're expected to do," said Ashley Herd, founder of the training company Manager Method, and a former lawyer and human-resources manager.

Those who are the most productive are often just given more work, often without overtime pay, Herd said, adding that this creates an environment in which employees may want to hide their time away from the computer. "Employers have this mindset of, 'I'm going to pay them a set amount and get as many hours out of them as I can,'" she said.

The fired Wells Fargo workers fell short of the bank's professional expectations, a company spokeswoman said.

"Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior," said the spokeswoman, who declined to comment further on the incidents.

The firings also come at a moment when worker engagement is lagging in the U.S and many countries, according to Gallup polling. Engagement is defined as worker involvement and enthusiasm, and its absence is an $8.9 trillion drag on productivity worldwide, the public-opinion firm estimated this week.

In America, the share of engaged workers dropped 3 percentage points to 30% in February. Meanwhile, the number of "actively engaged" workers remained stuck at 17%.

Focusing on activity instead of outcomes

Four years after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the return to offices for five days a week of in-person work is also stuck.

Office-occupancy data in early June showed that weekly attendance numbers averaged about half of what they were before the pandemic, according to Kastle Systems. Certain days, like Fridays, are slower than others.

But the return-to-office debate still continues, as some bosses want proof of productivity if they can't see workers at an office desk.

Research two years ago from Microsoft (MSFT) found that the worker-management divide in a world of hybrid work could fuel "productivity paranoia" - a scenario where employees said they were working harder than ever, but managers were not convinced.

Companies should be focusing on results - like a worker's sales numbers or lines of code - instead of combing through keystroke counts and mouse moves, according to Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economist who has studied the rise of remote work.

"When people work from home, you absolutely can't watch them like you can in the office, which is why you need to focus on outcomes," he said.

One mouse-jiggler review in June said the product helped the user deal with micromanaging bosses who had lost sight of the end product.

"My company when I first started came with the 'As long as you do your job and are available you are good' but of course time passed and they are on peoples back even though it's REMOTE. So long story short I needed something non-detectable so that I could not feel that pressure of someone on my back."

Have you used mouse jigglers or other devices to fake working? If you work remotely, has that arrangement changed your attitude toward work? MarketWatch is looking for people who would like to share their experiences. You can write to us at readerstories@marketwatch.com. A reporter may be in touch to learn more.

-Venessa Wong -Andrew Keshner

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-15-24 0924ET

Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.