Call centre employees infuriated after Colombian company plans to install CCTVs at homes to monitor performance

As work from home (WFH) has become a new norm amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a big call centre company is planning to install cameras in their employees’ homes to monitor their work performance. Employees have expressed outrage after being pressured to install cameras at their homes or on computers to monitor work. According to NBC News, workers of a Colombia-based call center that offers customer services to some of the nation’s largest companies, are being pressured by their higher authorities to sign a contract and let their employer install cameras in their homes. Six employees, who work for Teleperformance and are currently based in Colombia, claimed that they were concerned about the new contract which was first issued in March. The Teleperformance employees who work for one of the world’s largest call center firms have Apple, Amazon and Uber among their clients. Presently, there are more than 380,000 workers globally, including 39,000 workers in Colombia, as per NBC News. “The contract allows constant monitoring of what we are doing, but also our family. I think it’s really bad. We don’t work in an office. I work in my bedroom. I don’t want to have a camera in my bedroom,” said an employee, who works for the company from Bogota. The worker further stated that she signed the contract fearing she might lose her job. Additionally, she emphasised that she was told by her supervisor that she would be removed from the Apple account if she refused to sign the contract. Later, the woman stated that the additional surveillance technology has not yet been installed at her home. As per the contract, it allows monitoring by AI-powered cameras, storage of data and voice analytics that will be collected from the worker’s family members, including minors who reside at home. Amid talks on installing cameras at home, few companies are planning for digital monitoring of their employees from their respective homes. This plan will be taken up in a bid to recreate the oversight of the office at home.