More than a dozen Wells Fargo employees were fired last month following an investigation into the bankers’ “sham work,” Bloomberg reported.
The financial services company found that the employees, who all worked in the wealth and investment management unit, were creating the impression of active work by simulating keyboard activity, the company said. Reports preparation By Bloomberg.
Wells Fargo was all “decommissioned” on May 8 after an internal investigation into the allegations, Bloomberg reported.
It was not immediately clear whether the keyboard simulator was an external device or software, and the location of the employees accused of faking work was not immediately clear.
“Wells Fargo holds its employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior,” Lori W. Kite, a company spokesperson, told USA TODAY on Monday. She declined to provide additional comment on the matter.
The “Flexible Hybrid Model” is required for Wells Fargo employees
Wells Fargo was one of the last financial institutions to have employees return to offices after the COVID-19 pandemic, requiring them to opt for a “hybrid flexible model” in 2022, according to Bloomberg.
Bloomberg reported that most employees are in the office at least three days a week, while some members of management are in the office four days and many other employees, such as branch workers, are in the office for five days.
Spying on employees is the new norm
Wells Fargo isn’t the only company that spies on employees to measure productivity levels or ensure that work tasks are completed in a timely manner.
This was happening at “a lot of companies,” Dan Mauer, director of government affairs at Communications Workers of America, told USA TODAY last year.
This has happened since the Covid-19 pandemic, which forced a number of companies to give millions of employees the ability to work remotely, according to… Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Spy bosses typically use software or hardware tools to monitor “activity,” including logs of clicks, keystrokes, and online behavior, according to the EFC.
There are few regulations and few legal resources to prevent companies from spying on their workers, USA TODAY previously reported. Pennsylvania delegates At home And the The Senate Introduced the Stop Spying Chiefs Act in 2023 and again this year, but both measures were sent to committees and no subsequent action was taken.
Employees across the business sector have retaliated in their own way over the years, obtaining tools or downloading software to mimic employee activity, Bloomberg reported.
Contributing: Candy Woodall
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