Barclays | Bank axes 'Big Brother-style' staff tracking system

Last week, Barclays introduced a pilot for a computer monitoring system intended to monitor the “effectiveness” of employees when at their desk.

Just over a week later, the banking behemoth has pulled the plug on the tracking system in response to negative “colleague feedback” – the BBC reported.

The tracking gear – which the software company, Sapience, claims created “unprecedented transparency” in organisations – was used to monitor the length of time staff spent at their desks, as well as send alerts to those who were taking breaks that were too long.

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Barclays said in a statement: “We always intended to listen to colleague feedback as part of this limited pilot which was intended to tackle issues such as individual over-working as well as raise general productivity."