‘Big Brother’ bank: How the CBA is using a sneaky app to control how often workers click their mouse and show up at their desks
- Commonwealth Bank made a profit of $5.15 billion in the second half of 2022
- The bank confirmed that it was using a tracking app to monitor staff
The Commonwealth Bank is cracking down on workers who try to loaf by using a stealthy app that tracks how often they are physically at their desk and online.
The bank, which made a profit of $5.15 billion in the second half of 2022, uses the ‘Browse’ app to track the online activity of its staff and how often they sit in front of their computer.
The bank is also reportedly using office attendance and computer usage data to challenge absenteeism, such as taking an early note or a long lunch, and has ordered some employees off if they aren’t doing enough. . the aussie informed.
The financial giant, which confirmed it was collecting data on its employees, said the Navigate app was used so that staff can “access the building where they work, book meeting rooms and find their colleagues.”
However, not all of the 48,000 employees use the app.
The Commonwealth Bank, which made a profit of $5.15 billion in the second half of 2022, is cracking down on its workers. The image above is a stock image.
A Commonwealth Bank spokesman said the app had been “useful” in seeing exactly what staff were doing throughout the day.
“The information we collect has been useful in ensuring our people keep in touch in the various forms of work we support at CBA or, for example, in recording the appropriate type of leave taken when our employees take leave or are away from work. “said the spokesman said.
“This has been especially helpful during and after Covid as people have returned to the office, allowing us to better manage space in our corporate offices.”
Far from shirking the job, the Financial Sector Union, of which many of the CBA employees are members, said bank staff were overworked and underpaid.
The FSU said last month that a survey it carried out was a “damning indictment” of how the bank was chasing profits at the expense of workers.
“CBA staff are doing more for less, dealing with increasing workload demands due to rampant understaffing while wrestling with rising cost-of-living pressures,” said FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano. . news.com.au.
“Understaffed means staff are overworked and customers have to wait longer to do their banking.”
Online commentators generally agreed with the CBA’s crackdown on its staff’s working hours.
‘I think CBA has a legitimate monitoring tool there. Keep up the good work and get rid of those not doing their part,” said one.
CBA is using an app called Navigate that tracks mouse clicks and how often a person shows up at their desk, ordering staff to leave if they aren’t doing enough. An empty office is shown.
Staff at Commonwealth Bank (logo pictured) are overworked and customers are having to wait longer to do their banking, the Financial Sector Union said.
‘As a shareholder, I would prefer the CBA to say goodbye. And maybe the spotlight should also fall on those managers under whose tenure this happened,” said another.
However, one commenter said the bank should also use the information collected from the app to pay some workers more.
‘Fair enough, you want your employees to be productive and not get paid when they slack off. Then also pay extra when your employees work extra hours,’ they said.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Commonwealth Bank for further clarification, but their spokesperson declined to comment.
