Employee Monitoring Statistics 2026

How to read this page: every figure names its source and year. Survey results, official statistics, vendor claims and figures from our own directory are labeled separately, because they are not equally reliable.

How common is employee monitoring?

Prevalence figures depend on who is asked. Employer surveys and worker surveys measure different things, and several of the largest numbers come from commissioned or vendor-run polls, so read each line with its source.

1. 74% of U.S. employers said they use online monitoring or surveillance of employees, in an ExpressVPN survey commissioned in September 2024.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
2. 75% of the U.S. employers in that ExpressVPN survey said they also use video surveillance in physical offices, and 58% use biometric systems there.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
3. In the same ExpressVPN survey, 61% of employers said they use AI to assess employee productivity.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
4. A Gartner survey of executives at 119 companies found that 60% use technology-based tracking tools to monitor some of their hybrid or remote employees.Source: SHRM (MENA), citing Gartner (executives at 119 companies, 2020), 2020Survey
5. 32% of UK workers said they were monitored by their employer in 2021, up from 24% in April of that year.Source: Prospect union survey by Opinium (2,424 UK workers, 2021), as reported by Infosecurity Magazine, 2021Survey
6. 48% of UK workers aged 18 to 34 said they were monitored, and 20% of that age group said cameras were used.Source: Prospect union survey by Opinium (2,424 UK workers, 2021), as reported by Infosecurity Magazine, 2021Survey
7. Among UK workers who work from home, 13% reported being monitored by camera, compared with 6% in April 2021.Source: Prospect union survey by Opinium (2,424 UK workers, 2021), as reported by Infosecurity Magazine, 2021Survey
8. Only 19% of UK adults surveyed for the ICO believe they have been monitored at work by an employer.Source: ICO survey by Survation (1,000+ UK adults), as reported by DIGIT, October 2023, 2023Survey

What do workers believe is being tracked?

Worker-reported figures capture perception as much as practice, because many people do not know which tools their employer runs.

1. 59% of employees who work on a computer or device believe their employer probably or definitely collects activity data, and 46% believe it collects content data.Source: Gallup study on workplace data and trust, as reported by People Matters (employees who work on a computer or device), 2026Survey
2. 43% of remote and hybrid U.S. workers said their online activity is monitored, including 48% of hybrid workers and 37% of fully remote workers, in a Forbes Advisor survey.Source: Forbes Advisor survey, as compiled by Clockify, not statedVendor claim
3. 63% of employees believe their employer monitors their work activities, according to Owl Labs' 2026 State of Hybrid Work report.Source: Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2026, as compiled by Clockify, 2026Vendor claim
4. 50% of employees in the ExpressVPN survey suspect they are monitored without their knowledge, and nearly 44% do not know whether biometric tracking is used on them.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
5. Roughly 7 in 10 U.S. tech workers said they believe their company does not surveil them, in a Morning Consult survey of 750 workers.Source: Morning Consult survey of 750 U.S. technology workers (fielded April 28 to May 12, 2022), 2022Survey
6. The ICO survey found that 40% of UK adults who believed they had been monitored named timekeeping and access tracking, and 25% named monitoring of emails, files, calls or messages.Source: ICO survey by Survation (1,000+ UK adults), as reported by DIGIT, October 2023, 2023Survey

Which activities are monitored?

Most surveys list a handful of methods. The shares below describe what respondents reported, not what any one tool does.

1. 74% of employers in the ExpressVPN survey said they use software to log web browsing, and 59% said they monitor screens in real time.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
2. Among monitored remote and hybrid workers in the Forbes Advisor survey, 50% said their active work hours are tracked, 42% said websites visited, and 40% said computer active or idle time.Source: Forbes Advisor survey, as compiled by Clockify, not statedVendor claim
3. In the same Forbes Advisor survey, 32% of monitored workers said chat and messaging apps are tracked and 31% said emails are tracked.Source: Forbes Advisor survey, as compiled by Clockify, not statedVendor claim
4. Owl Labs' 2026 report found that 44% of employers added or increased activity tracking software as a workplace change in 2026, as reported by workers.Source: Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2026, as compiled by Clockify, 2026Vendor claim
5. 67% of U.S. employers in the ExpressVPN survey said they use some form of biometric tracking, such as facial recognition or fingerprint scans.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim

How common is algorithmic monitoring in Europe?

Eurofound's figures come from the European Working Conditions Survey 2024 and ask about computer programs that monitor, allocate or schedule work, which is narrower than all workplace monitoring.

1. Nearly 20% of EU employees report being monitored by a computer program, 18% report tasks being allocated by a computer, and 10% report a computer determining their working hours.Source: Eurofound, Algorithmic management in European workplaces (European Working Conditions Survey 2024, EU employees), 2024Official statistics
2. Performance monitoring by a computer program is reported by 31% of employees in Belgium, 28% in Estonia and 26% in Ireland.Source: Eurofound, Algorithmic management in European workplaces (European Working Conditions Survey 2024, EU employees), 2024Official statistics
3. Performance monitoring by a computer program is reported by 12% of employees in Portugal, Greece and Hungary and 10% in Germany.Source: Eurofound, Algorithmic management in European workplaces (European Working Conditions Survey 2024, EU employees), 2024Official statistics
4. 38% of employees in Denmark report tasks being allocated by a computer (Eurofound describes the figure as an estimate).Source: Eurofound, Algorithmic management in European workplaces (European Working Conditions Survey 2024, EU employees), 2024Official statistics
5. Among clerical workers, 25% report performance monitoring by software, and 28% report automated task allocation.Source: Eurofound, Algorithmic management in European workplaces (European Working Conditions Survey 2024, EU employees), 2024Official statistics

What do workers think about being monitored?

Opposition is common in public opinion surveys, but support rises for some narrow uses, so the answer depends on the purpose.

1. 70% of UK adults said it would be intrusive to be monitored by their employer in any way, and 21% said it would not be intrusive, in an ICO survey.Source: ICO survey by Survation (1,000+ UK adults), as reported by DIGIT, October 2023, 2023Survey
2. 57% of UK adults said they would feel uncomfortable taking a new job if they knew their employer would monitor them, and 19% said they would feel comfortable.Source: ICO survey by Survation (1,000+ UK adults), as reported by DIGIT, October 2023, 2023Survey
3. 61% of U.S. adults oppose employers using AI to track workers' movements, and 56% oppose using it to track when office workers are at their desks.Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' views on use of AI to monitor and evaluate workers (U.S. adults, April 2023), 2023Survey
4. 51% of U.S. adults oppose employers using AI to record what workers do on their computers.Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' views on use of AI to monitor and evaluate workers (U.S. adults, April 2023), 2023Survey
5. 43% of U.S. adults favor AI monitoring of drivers' behavior and 34% oppose it, the most accepted of the six uses Pew asked about.Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' views on use of AI to monitor and evaluate workers (U.S. adults, April 2023), 2023Survey
6. 52% of U.S. adults say workers would definitely and 29% say they would probably feel inappropriately watched if AI were used to analyze how they do their jobs.Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' views on use of AI to monitor and evaluate workers (U.S. adults, April 2023), 2023Survey
7. 66% of U.S. adults expect that information collected by AI worker monitoring would be misused.Source: Pew Research Center, Americans' views on use of AI to monitor and evaluate workers (U.S. adults, April 2023), 2023Survey
8. 59% of surveyed U.S. workers believe workplace monitoring raises ethical concerns, according to the Forbes Advisor survey.Source: Forbes Advisor survey, as compiled by Clockify, not statedVendor claim

Does monitoring change behavior, trust or retention?

These figures describe what workers say they do or would do. They are self-reports and do not measure productivity.

1. Only 20% of employees who work on a computer or device have a great deal of trust in leaders to use employee data responsibly, while 43% have some trust and 37% little or none.Source: Gallup study on workplace data and trust, as reported by People Matters (employees who work on a computer or device), 2026Survey
2. 40% of engaged employees have a great deal of trust in leaders' use of workplace data, compared with 13% of non-engaged employees and 4% of actively disengaged employees.Source: Gallup study on workplace data and trust, as reported by People Matters (employees who work on a computer or device), 2026Survey
3. Only 19% of employees have ever been spoken to about the workplace data or metrics collected on their work.Source: Gallup study on workplace data and trust, as reported by People Matters (employees who work on a computer or device), 2026Survey
4. In the ExpressVPN survey, 49% of employees said they would consider quitting if monitoring increased, and 24% said they would accept a lower salary to avoid being watched.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
5. 32% of employees in the ExpressVPN survey said they feel pressured to work faster because of monitoring, and 24% said they have skipped breaks to avoid looking unproductive.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
6. 16% of employees in the ExpressVPN survey said they keep decoy apps open, 15% schedule emails to simulate activity, and 12% use software to fake work activity.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
7. 31% of monitored workers in the Forbes Advisor survey said they feel micromanaged, 23% said they feel constantly watched, and 18% reported stress or anxiety.Source: Forbes Advisor survey, as compiled by Clockify, not statedVendor claim
8. About half of tech workers in the Morning Consult survey said they would not take a job at a company that monitored them at work.Source: Morning Consult survey of 750 U.S. technology workers (fielded April 28 to May 12, 2022), 2022Survey

What do workers expect on disclosure and rules?

Respondents are consistent on transparency, even where they disagree on whether monitoring is acceptable.

1. 77% of employees in the ExpressVPN survey said companies should be legally required to disclose surveillance fully, and 78% wanted tougher federal regulation.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
2. 86% of employers in the ExpressVPN survey said they are transparent about monitoring, which is a self-description and not a verified measure.Source: ExpressVPN survey commissioned September 2024 (1,500 U.S. employers and 1,500 U.S. employees), as reported by Jibble, 2024Vendor claim
3. 84% of employees believe employers should be legally required to disclose monitoring, according to Owl Labs' 2026 State of Hybrid Work report.Source: Owl Labs, State of Hybrid Work 2026, as compiled by Clockify, 2026Vendor claim
4. 32% of monitored workers in the Forbes Advisor survey said they had received formal guidelines on what is tracked.Source: Forbes Advisor survey, as compiled by Clockify, not statedVendor claim
5. Among respondents to the Prospect survey of UK workers, 80% said webcam monitoring of remote workers should be banned (52%) or heavily regulated (28%).Source: Prospect union survey by Opinium (2,424 UK workers, 2021), as reported by Infosecurity Magazine, 2021Survey

Methodology

We opened each cited page and kept only figures that appear on it. Pew Research Center and Eurofound are primary publications; the Gallup, Prospect, ICO, Gartner, ExpressVPN, Forbes Advisor and Owl Labs figures were read on the reporting pages named in each source line, so they are one step removed from the original reports. Each fact gives the data year, or the publication year when fieldwork dates are not stated, and is labeled survey, official or vendor-claim.

Figures seen only in search snippets, or on pages we could not open (for example some APA and TUC reports), were left out.

Limits: employer surveys and worker surveys measure different things, and many workers do not know what is tracked. ExpressVPN sells privacy software, Owl Labs sells video conferencing hardware and Jibble sells time tracking, so we treat their figures as vendor claims. Pew measures opinion about AI monitoring, Eurofound measures algorithmic management only, and the Morning Consult sample is limited to tech workers.

Several figures are from 2021 to 2023. See our editorial process and the companion page on remote and hybrid work statistics.

Frequently asked questions

How many employers monitor their employees?

It depends on the survey. In an ExpressVPN survey commissioned in September 2024, 74% of U.S. employers said they use online monitoring. A Gartner survey of 119 companies found 60% tracked some hybrid or remote staff in 2020.

Eurofound found nearly 20% of EU employees report computer-program monitoring in 2024.

Do workers know when they are monitored?

Often not. In the ExpressVPN survey, 50% of employees suspected monitoring without their knowledge. Gallup reports that only 19% of computer-based employees have ever been spoken to about the data collected on their work.

What do workers think about employee monitoring?

Most oppose broad monitoring. In an ICO survey, 70% of UK adults said monitoring by an employer would be intrusive. Pew found that 61% of U.S. adults oppose AI tracking of workers' movements, while 43% favor AI monitoring of drivers.

Does monitoring make workers want to quit?

Self-reports suggest it can. In the ExpressVPN survey, 49% of employees said they would consider quitting if monitoring increased. These are stated intentions, not measured departures.

How common is algorithmic monitoring in Europe?

Eurofound's European Working Conditions Survey 2024 found nearly 20% of EU employees report being monitored by a computer program, ranging from 31% in Belgium to 10% in Germany for performance monitoring.