I work for a Corporate Retail company. I would use their name but they actually have people tracking when the company name is used online ( I used the name in a tweet one time and was called 30 minutes later to explain the tweet).
A couple of months ago they spent big on new IPhone 12’s that they Jailbroke so that the phones can only use an app the company created. Like most things with this company, the implementation of these phones was handled poorly and so far the phones are pretty much useless. They have hyped up the fact we can clock in and out on the phones, upload pictures of used items we buy in, and we can check our emails. Hooray….
The problem is of course the phones don’t really do all of these things and on top of that the things the phones can do are very minimal compared to our computers and other systems we have used since the dawn of time. The phones are a waste of time and effort to put it bluntly. Anything the phones can kind of do, we can already do a lot more efficiently using the other systems already in place.
However, because the company has spent big and “this is the way moving forward” they are taking the phones seriously. So seriously that they have now started tracking Usage of the phones and can see when people log in to use them or not. I received an email earlier from my boss saying “Think of this like Big Brother.”
I work in a store with a lot of veterans. Most have worked at this location for over 15 years. They do not want to use the phones for right reasons. But, at the current state of things, the company is willing to fire these people if they do not comply.
These are people who we call “Million dollar writers” meaning each year, they sell over a million dollars in merchandise. They’ve made the company a lot of money. However, it seems these people and anyone not willing to comply are no longer needed at our company that is honestly struggling super hard financially. So much so that the micro management has increased, labor hours have been cut to THE bare minimum, and the company has withheld annual raises due to “exaggerated goals not affected by the company.”
Currently, looking for a new job but I thought I would share this as I find it hilarious they actually used “Big Brother” to describe this new system and to inform employees.