Fake job seekers are flooding US companies that are hiring for remote positions

"A bit of light surveillance" my ass.

Who said anything about install? They give you a company phone.

And you really think it is unreasonable for a person/company paying you money to do a task to know where on the planet you are located, emergency contacts, etc.? What happens when you get hit by a bus in Bangkok or have a scuba incident in Bali and are in the hospital for a week or worse? You just go dark and they have no way to send aid or even get status on the work you are now suddenly not doing, or obtain the current files so someone else can make progress?

Of course there are many inconsequential gigs/jobs for which it doesn't matter if you disappear, or lie about your identity or location, or are a North Korean spy trying to destroy the company, and you're welcome to work for those.

But I'm 100% in favor of remote work, and I would not remotely consider hiring someone for any consequential project or position without knowing they are who they say they are and they are where they say they are located.

And from a Corporate and National Security perspective, while I consider Return To Office largely outrageous, it seems quite reasonable for simple physical security measures to verify an employee is who and where they say they are.

Even more so considering the massive amounts of both nation-state-level corporate espionage and remote work fraud going on.

I can fall into a coma in the US. If your business depends on “being able to send aid”, then you have failed as a business.

If I am not delivering work output, terminate me.

My employer is entitled to my work output for compensation, no more, no less. The rest is an unwarranted intrusion into the rest of my life.

You are of course correct, they are free to not hire me, as I am free to not work there.

“Install” - you describe a device that reports my location, and described being required to take that with me so they could know / verify said location. That is so beyond the pale.

“Oh you said you were in Bali last week? Passport please so we can verify.”

What next? Do I need to send my after visit summaries from my doctor to HR, too?

>>My employer is entitled to my work output for compensation, no more, no less.

Of course that is true if you are working on a contractor or gig basis. The spec is for "Qty X of Y widgets, with software doing Z, delivered in July to our office in Cupertino", and you have no access to their offices or systems. Working basically incognito is fine, as long as comms are maintained for reasonable updates and you deliver as, where, and when specified.

But if you are both taking on the obligations of an employer-employee relationship, including benefits, legal obligations, access to company systems & offices, use of company equipment, etc., it is not only reasonable to know you are who you say you are and where you say you are, it is the managers' responsibility to know.

If your CEO comes to ask about and engineering issue on Project Sigma, and your report "Joe" is responsible, but you haven't heard from "Joe" in a week, and the last you knew he was flying to Australia, but you can't say if "Joe" is working in Sydney, beaching in Bali, or selling secrets in Shanghai to a Chinese competitor, and you don't even really know who "Joe" is, it seems you have not only dropped the ball but lost the plot. And probably your management job.

>>If your business depends on “being able to send aid”, then you have failed as a business.

Of course it is a mgt failure to structure your org with a single point of failure. But if an employee has responsibilities so trivial it makes no difference if they suddenly disappear, why were they even on payroll?

Why is it unreasonable to expect an employee to take care of themselves and company laptop/phone/etc., and be in reliable and honest contact so if something does happen, you can take steps to help, such as knowing where to send a replacement laptop or updated team info?

>>If I am not delivering work output, terminate me.

Of course, but the context here is dishonest employees stealing corporate secrets for enemy nation-states or stealing payroll until they are found out.

The costs of secret stealing can easily be company bankruptcy and unemployment for every other employee, and national security breaches.

The costs to bogus employees or dishonest 'overworkers'[0] stealing payroll until they are found out is beyond just stolen paychecks, it's also the overhead and lack of progress for the rest of the team.

More generally, it's important for remote work options to thrive, and if the basis is "F.U., you can't even know who or where I am, don't pay me if you don't like it.", almost all employers will make their policy: "sit your butt in this specific office chair 9-5 M-F". I'm a strong advocate of remote work, and have sat in the employer's chair many times, but if those are the only two options, my only choice is RTO.

>>required to take that with me so they could know / verify said location. That is so beyond the pale.

I disagree. This is not like monitoring cameras/microphones/keystrokes (even 'tho similar monitoring in an office is trivial by walking to someone's cubicle). But to claim that your employer or manager (not gig-work contract mgr) can not even know what hemisphere or time zone you are in seems absurd. And no, daily "were you really at the Dr.?" stuff isn't the point of my solution either. I am literally saying only that you should be verifiably open about who you are and where you are on an every-few-days basis.

So, in the context of corporate/international espionage and dishonest employees and agencies stealing everything from the company jewels to payroll, what solution do YOU have that makes remote work viable? That's a serious question.

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[0] I've got no problem with people who remotely 'overwork' two remote jobs if they can honestly keep up with their responsibilities for both. I have a big problem with people taking on more paychecks than they possibly can and just riding it until they are terminated, or "agencies" dishonestly posing as a single employee. Both are fine if everyone fully and transparently understands the situation, but fundamentally dishonest if done with deception. Just like open honest polyamory is fine, but cheating on your spouse is not.