Wells Fargo Fires Employees Caught Using 'Mouse-Movers' to Fake Productivity

Wells Fargo employees are fired for using mouse-movers

• Last month, Wells Fargo reportedly fired over a dozen employees for using tools that fake productivity at work.
• Bloomberg reported the terminations based on disclosures filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).
• The terminated employees were all part of Wells Fargo's "wealth- and investment-management unit."

Mouse-movers are becoming increasingly popular

• Mouse-movers are devices or apps that can simulate the movements of a computer mouse.
• These devices and software skyrocketed in popularity during the pandemic when many employees suddenly found themselves working from home without any in-person supervision.
• Mouse-movers can autonomously move a computer's cursor or trigger phantom keyboard entries without any human intervention.

Companies are starting to catch on to mouse-movers

• Many companies rely on software to monitor employee inputs to ensure productivity.
• As remote working has continued after the pandemic, these monitoring tools have grown more sophisticated and can now spot the patterns of mouse-movers.
• Companies should redefine how they measure productivity for employees outside of the office.