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An Anonymous Coward has submitted the following:
A December update to Microsoft Teams that will be disabled by default will reportedly track user location and report it if the feature is enabled. This will allow bosses to tell if an employee is in the office or working from home and set their status accordingly. It will also be able to tell if the user is not at their normal home logon location and provide evidence to employers showing the user's location. Workers who have been taking mini holidays while claiming to be working from home may be affected by this new feature.
The idea of the new feature is to eliminate confusion for bosses about where a worker is within the building and to see if they are working remotely.
But those who work from home argue it is an invasion of privacy.
"Micro management at peak? All online work doesn't need you to be in the office, we can do it from home," one X user said.
"Why is this needed?" another added.
Almost half of Gen Z workers surveyed (44 per cent) revealed last year that they took a secret trip, with most giving their workplace the impression they were working normal hours and using a virtual background in meetings to trick their employer.
Ella Maree, 26, started hush-tripping after Covid when her corporate workplace adopted a 3:2 work week, which meant she could work from home on Mondays and Fridays.
"Since travel options were limited, hush trips became my go-to choice," she said.
"I flew out Thursday evening and worked by the hotel pool, restaurant and room on Friday. I maintained the same level of productivity as if I were physically in the office or working from home, so really, a win-win situation.
"Most of my office work from home Friday, so really, I'm just making the most of our remote work flexibility."
Ms Maree insisted her boss "wouldn't mind" given workplaces are mostly connected online and that she was always getting her work done.
How many Soylentils still have the ability to WFH, either full-time or part-time? I thought one of the attractions of WFH is the ability to work when the hours suit you and not the standard 9-5 (for non-Usians). Would you consider working from a different location a breach of your contract?
(Score: 5, Interesting) by ElizabethGreene on Monday October 27, @01:10PM (4 children)
I have not been in a company office or visited a customer site since fall of 2019.
My job used to be 70+% travel, visiting customer offices. If I'm honest, I miss it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 27, @02:27PM
> How many Soylentils still have the ability to WFH, either full-time or part-time?
I've always worked from home (very small family company that I inherited), starting in the late 1970s. Yes, I set my own hours--but the reality is that I'm working, or on-call, most of the time. Luckily, I like running my tiny company and I like my customers, so things like checking email at all hours isn't usually a burden.
As noted by parent, I do a lot less customer site visits than before covid, but there are some. Meeting face-to-face is still the best way to maintain customer/client relationships and retain their business (or get new business).
(Score: 3, Interesting) by c0lo on Monday October 27, @03:01PM (1 child)
I'm slacking and zooming since Apr 2020. Occaaasionally may be going to the office for HW repair/upgrade/replacement, say twice every 3 years
Not missing the office even a bit, the guys there are too young and healthy for me.
https://www.youtube.com/@ProfSteveKeen https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Interesting) by turgid on Monday October 27, @08:53PM
I've been working remotely since about the same time. I got sent home early when COVID hit since I'm asthmatic. I hated the office. It was full of distractions. It was too hot, too cold. too noisy, too stuffy, too bright, the floor shook, the ceiling was falling in, the fire alarms kept going off and people kept talking rubbish.
Mrs Turgid was hit hard by COVID and had to give up work. Some of her colleagues lots family members to it. We needed a lifestyle change and that's what we did. We have less money but a far better quality of life, better public services, and fresh air.
I've also had to be brave looking for new jobs which has sometimes been very stressful (the Angry Boss episode, turning around other failing projects) but also very rewarding and sometimes lucrative. I've been leading cross-site, international teams, writing C (getting away from Java and C++) and doing start-up work. Being based in an office would be counter-productive.
There is one thing missing, though, and that's some kinds of team work. Having said that, no one wants to work in that way anymore. Companies are either too small or too crazy to want to do it properly, so who cares? The AI bandwagon is making it worse.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by OrugTor on Monday October 27, @04:50PM
I have not worked in-office since 2005. Subsequent to an acquisition we were moved out of our beautiful little office into a shitty space then a year later they told us we had to work from home. That worked well for most of us as coders but I never forgave them. I take liberties that violate work-at-home policies and justify it to myself by getting the work done. My house, my rules. I've taken plenty of trips where I worked maybe 50% of the workday and booked the rest as PTO.
I like to think the company got what it deserved while still getting what it paid for.