Cognizant Uses ProHance to Flag Employees ‘Idle’ After 5 Minutes
Cognizant Technology Solutions has intensified the debate around digital surveillance in the hybrid work era by deploying advanced workforce-management tools on company-issued devices.
Using software like ProHance, the system tracks employee activity, logging mouse movements, keyboard strokes, and the applications and websites used during work hours.
This implementation signals an aggressive focus on micro-level productivity tracking across specific delivery teams, raising immediate employee concerns about privacy.
The Mechanism: Five Minutes to “Idle”
The internal training associated with the new monitoring system defines clear thresholds for inactivity.
An employee’s system is automatically flagged as “idle” if the software detects no mouse or keyboard activity for more than five minutes (300 seconds).
If the device remains inactive for a prolonged period of 15 minutes, the employee is marked as engaging in “activities away from the system.”
The ProHance dashboard provides management with granular visibility into work patterns, logging active applications and time allocation across different tasks.
Clarification from Cognizant: Process, Not People
In response to reports, Cognizant strongly clarified that it does not design or use the tools to track or evaluate the individual performance of employees.
A company spokesperson stated that the company uses the deployment in “select Business Process Management or Intuitive Operations & Automation projects.”
The spokesperson also noted that customers request the deployment, calling it a “common industry practice.”
The stated purpose is strictly to “assess process design inefficiencies” by better understanding client process steps and related time metrics.
Cognizant maintains the tracking is subject to employee consent and will have “no impact” on performance reviews.
Mandatory Consent and Employee Concerns
Despite the official assurances of consent, some reports indicate that the internal training course on ProHance required users to click an “I agree” confirmation.
This mandatory requirement led to concerns that the company effectively coerced consent.
The deployment reflects a wider industry trend in IT and BPO sectors to boost delivery efficiency and provide clients with clear metrics on workforce utilization.
The company previously saved approximately $8 million in a single year using similar software for optimization.
However, for employees, the shift to micro-tracking represents an erosion of trust and autonomy, highlighting the challenge of balancing operational efficiency with maintaining workplace morale in the hybrid work environment.
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