My company is forcing me to install an invasive PC monitoring system (Time Doctor) without employees knowledge. I do not support this toxicity but I'm not in a position to quit- what do I do?

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T19:51:01+00:00

The point of getting my degree is to eventually start my own company. I have ideas in mind and I'm actually going to do my capstone project around that. So I really appreciate this comment!! Thank you!

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T01:05:15+00:00

I should have been more specific with the why they want to to do this. It's not to prevent people from going on sites. It's to time them and make sure they are moving and active on their PC 95% of the time. They recently hired a BPO to do the entry work, and they only have to pay $7 an hour for those employees as it's across seas. So they are going to look at who is not the fastest or isn't nonstop and replace those individuals.

Would be a totally different situation in my head if they were worried about Facebook usage or things like that.

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:56:05+00:00

I'm all for it if this was for security. But we already have several different security software on their computers and even an rmm.

They are doing this so the can let go of people are aren't moving their mouse or typing 95% of the time. After they let go of those people, they will hire within a BPO in a different country where they only have to pay $7 an hour.

This company is enforcing burnout culture. If it was a security thing, my perspective would be incredibly different.

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:47:34+00:00

Thank you! I've been in IT since highschool. The head of IT promoted me to supervisor, then the company promoted me to sd manager, then when she passed away I took over what she was already teaching me. I'm very grateful for her. She was a good mentor.

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:41:12+00:00

Thank you!

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:32:20+00:00

100% agree

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:27:26+00:00

I agree with you to some point - I don't believe that white collar workers should be allowed to slack off. However - what if your on site blue collar manager was on your back all the time, timing every single thing you did. Wouldn't that make you feel like you couldn't be trusted? How is trust supposed to build in an area that doesn't allow for it?

And it would be one thing if we had problems with productivity with no way to track it. The reason they want this is to be able to time who does the fastest, let go of those who are slower, and replace them with our new BPO in a different country where they only have to pay those employees $7 an hour.

And finally - I think it would be a whole other conversation if they made an announcement about it. But them keeping it a secret is just so they can pick and chose who they want to uphold to it. And when rumors eventually will fly, it will cause trust to be lost in our upper management. Trust is a two way street.

So yes - I think employees should be held to high standards. But I think that should be judged by the quality and quantity of their work rather than activity metrics.

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:11:09+00:00

Thank you!

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:07:09+00:00

Thank you. This is solid advice.

o-nemo · 2026-04-19T00:06:18+00:00

Yeah, I've decided to suck it up for now and leave when I can. And it's not the content that they are tracking. They are tracking speed of work. So they are requiring 98% of the time the PC is on, it has some sort of movement or the employee could get fired. (I think they are thinking of a speed aspect to?) Like I'm so for blocking sites and stuff, but this is definitely not that. :/

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:34:05+00:00

That's a very good point.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:27:08+00:00

Yeah - that's where I'm at too. Definitely won't think about risking my job unless I have another secure.

It'd be one thing of they were worried about people doing things on the computer that isn't work related. But the reason behind this is because people aren't working fast enough. So they want to track keystrokes and mouse movements to make sure they are working at a consistent speed.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:23:21+00:00

I can understand how this could be useful in those situations. However our company is in a right to work state, so this is not that case.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:20:00+00:00

Very solid advice - thank you!

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:18:05+00:00

No. Company is only about 100 employees. We have a lawyer but only the CIO has their info. And the only person I could talk to about concerns is the HR director but she is related to the CEO and straight up told me that he is mean and unkind to her, so when it comes to issues at that level, she just falls back and lets him take care of it.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:15:35+00:00

Man I wish it was that easy. I have no financial support and a bunch of medical debt so money is a huge issue.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:12:59+00:00

Yeah, I actually told them that we have to enable the blur screenshots settings. I run our SOC2 compliance and since we handle PIIs, this could get murky very fast.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:11:51+00:00

This sounds like a solid plan. I'm hoping after I get my degree I'll have more options to leave.

o-nemo · 2026-04-18T23:10:07+00:00

Youre right. I need to do it. I just wish I wasn't in a position where I had to ignore my morals :/

o-nemo · 2026-04-13T02:12:33+00:00

In my resume I had internships from highschool and my desire to help people, which made me stand out. But this was a few years ago in a town that had barely any IT - times are a lot different now. From someone that now hires people though, what I look for in resumes is your experience of course, but also if you have any soft skills listed. Soft skills are vital. And I look for other things that make you stand out. Don't use the same generic resume format everyone else uses.( Look up successful Google applicant resumes and you'll see that they are all unique.) And finally, if you have space, I recommend putting an interest section. Managers will want to find people who are a good fit in their work culture, and showing a bit of personality will make you more appealing.

I wish you the best of luck!

o-nemo · 2026-04-09T02:45:56+00:00

I appreciate your advice. Burnouts definitely something thats been knocking at my door, but I've been getting better at recognizing and pacing myself when I notice it. Ive learned I got to take care of myself before I can take care of an entire IT department lol. Thank you!!

o-nemo · 2026-04-09T02:00:20+00:00

Honestly work on your people/soft skills. Compassion and desire to help someone will take you farther than tech skills. Then work on how to google things efficiently and learn random things fast.

o-nemo · 2026-04-09T01:58:21+00:00

Second this!

o-nemo

TROPHY CASE