When the zombie apocalypse comes, I think I’m going to head to an Amazon warehouse. I fancy that there would be enough there to keep me going. There is, however, one downside, the company might want to track my movements within it.
Why? Well, apparently Amazon has patented a device specifically with the sole intention of monitoring its worker’s activities and productivity.
Fortunately in my job here at eTeknix as long as I write reasonable relevant stuff, don’t make too many spelling mistakes or colossally annoy the readers, I’m given a (reasonably) free reign. I do, however, completely understand the dislike people have for being closely watched and monitored at work. It reminds of the scene from Casino where Robert De Niro comments that everyone is watching everyone else.
The proposed technology, however, is set to do exactly that. It will monitor how long workers are on a particular task via a wrist device. On the plus side, it will also tell them when it’s lunch. Sneaking through the back door to have a cigarette, however, is likely going to be a problem.
In fairness, while the cynic thinks that this is solely to monitor workers, there is a logical argument to it. In a report via The Guardian, Amazon ships roughly 26 million items a day. With that level of production its almost a no-brainer that if Amazon can find a way to make the process more efficient, it will save the company millions.
A portion of the working will undoubtedly view this as being merely to make sure they’re not skiving. A fair point. I do, however, think that there is more to this than that.
Despite the patent being in place, it hasn’t been implemented, yet. Just how this will go down with the staff and any potential unions, however, remains to be seen.
What do you think? A good idea to boost productivity? A cynical way to evaluate staff? – Let us know in the comments!
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