Wells Fargo Fires Dozens of Remote Workers for Faking Work with Mouse Movers: The Rise of Unethical Behavior in the Remote Work Era

Remote work has become increasingly popular during the pandemic, and with it, the use of technology to mimic employee activity. “Mouse movers” or “mouse jigglers” are devices and software designed to give the appearance of productivity while working from home. These tools can move a computer’s cursor or generate keyboard activity automatically, without human interaction.

Wells Fargo & Co. recently fired over a dozen remote employees in May after accusations of faking work using these tools. The bank disclosed these terminations to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FIRNA), stating that employees in the wealth- and investment-management unit were discharged for simulating keyboard activity to appear actively working.

While the FIRNA filings did not specify if the fired employees were indeed faking work from home, this incident highlights the use of “mouse-mover” technology in enabling such behavior. A Wells Fargo spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company upholds high standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior.

The popularity of these tools surged during the pandemic when remote work became prevalent, with reports indicating that employees are sharing tips on using them on platforms like Reddit and TikTok. Affordable options are available for purchase on Amazon.

Many companies now use monitoring software to track these inputs and ensure remote employees are actively working at their computers. As remote work continues post-pandemic, these monitoring tools have become more sophisticated in detecting patterns, even ones that may appear random.

This incident is not the first time Wells Fargo has faced allegations of unethical behavior from employees. In 2018, the company investigated employees in the investment bank for violating expense policies by trying to charge the company for ineligible evening meals.