'People analytics' - how to track workers from afar

The same technologies that make remote working possible also allow firms to legally monitor their employees. Singapore's recently introduced data literacy framework can help to raise awareness, but more needs to be done.

Amid the pandemic, many Singaporeans no longer work in their physical offices but at home. The writer says the digital tools they use also produce data that can be tapped by others to make inferences about them.
Amid the pandemic, many Singaporeans no longer work in their physical offices but at home. The writer says the digital tools they use also produce data that can be tapped by others to make inferences about them. ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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This year, the world of work changed beyond recognition. In Europe and the United States, more than 40 per cent of the labour force worked from home during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In Singapore, droves of office workers deserted their high-rise towers in late March and early April and installed themselves at makeshift desks in their homes.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 24, 2020, with the headline 'People analytics' - how to track workers from afar. Subscribe