Michigan's Approach to Remote Work: Role of Employee Monitoring Software

The traditional 9-to-5 confinement within office walls seems to be becoming a relic of the past. Modern workers prefer more flexible remote or hybrid work arrangements, and for businesses across Michigan, this situation presents both challenges and new opportunities. In this article, we will explore the rise of remote work within Michigan's economic landscape and the often misunderstood role of employee monitoring software in managing distributed teams.

The most vital industries for Michigan's economy are manufacturing, automotive, healthcare, and professional services. Of course, not all work in these spheres can be performed remotely. The shift to remote work is most prominent among the jobs that can be performed digitally, such as professional, scientific, and technical services. At the same time, manufacturing and health care have seen less flexibility due to the hands-on nature of the work.

If we look at statistics, we will see that working from home was not a very widespread arrangement in pre-pandemic Michigan. The proportion of remote workers was only 3.1% in 2010 and slowly grew to 4.5% by 2019. But when the pandemic hit, this percentage increased twelvefold: by August 2020, 54% of Southeast Michigan workers were working remotely. By July 2021, the share of remote workers in Southeast Michigan settled at 28%, still far above pre-pandemic levels.

Michigan employers are aware that flexible work arrangements are vital to attract and retain talent, especially among younger workers. According to a recent 2025 Remote Work Pulse Survey by ASE, Michigan's largest employer association, 48.2% of Michigan organizations now offer formal remote work options for all or part of their workforce. While it is a decline from 66% in 2023, it still underscores that flexible work arrangements are a trend that will not disappear anytime soon.

Several factors drive the adoption and popularity of remote and flexible work. The first one is employee expectations. Having experienced the benefits of flexibility firsthand, from reduced commute time to better work-life balance, employees now prefer companies that can offer such flexibility. Gallup's February 2025 poll indicates that 60% of remote-capable employees desire a hybrid work arrangement, and one-third prefer fully remote work, with less than 10% wanting to work exclusively on-site. Employers who fail to offer remote and hybrid work arrangements risk losing top talent to their more flexible competitors.

Flexible work arrangements benefit employers, too. They get access to wider talent pools, not limited by commuting distance. Besides, they significantly save on physical office space: rent, utilities, and maintenance. Finally, offering flexibility can lead to higher morale, reduced stress, and lower turnover rates, as employees feel more satisfied with their jobs.

However, the transition to remote and flexible work modes has its complexities. How does the employer ensure productivity when the employees work outside their direct supervision? How to maintain accountability? How to protect the company's sensitive data? To solve these problems, organizations need effective management tools, and employee monitoring software is one of the most powerful of them.

When we think of employee monitoring software, we often associate it with spying and intrusion; however, it need not necessarily be so. When implemented thoughtfully and transparently, it can become an irreplaceable tool for managing distributed teams, and here is why.

Employee monitoring software can track application usage, visited websites, search queries, active vs. idle time, and much more employee's activity during work hours. This data helps managers see the work process, understand individual and team workloads, identify peak productive hours, and more. Instead of subjective observations, managers get objective data, which allows them to make informed decisions, adjust deadlines and workloads on the go, and prevent employee burnout or underutilization.

Employee monitoring software automates performance evaluation. These tools summarize collected data into graphic charts, highlighting the most important productivity aspects: idle time, most used applications, time spent on social media, etc. Advanced tools even calculate individual productivity scores with the help of AI. All these features help quickly quantify contributions in a remote setting where physical presence is no longer a proxy for engagement.

The company data can be more vulnerable in a remote environment for several reasons. Employees use their personal unprotected devices and networks to access the company data, or unauthorized individuals may get access to these devices to see the data they are not supposed to.

Monitoring software can act as an early warning system against potential breaches: it can detect unusual activity, unauthorized access attempts, or suspicious data transfers. For industries with strict regulations, it helps ensure compliance with data handling and privacy laws.

Sudden drops in productivity, long idle periods, or unusual work hours may indicate that the employee is struggling or burned out. Employee monitoring software can highlight these patterns. Seeing them, managers can reach out, offer support, and address problems before they escalate.

With such an approach, companies can create a supportive remote work environment. It will not only decrease the risks of burnout and disengagement but will also attract new talent.

Employee monitoring software with time-tracking features is excellent for companies that bill clients by the hour or hire employees on an hourly wage. It tracks work hours (often automatically without the need to clock in and out) and provides accurate time records on specific tasks or projects.

The benefit? Precise billing, easier payroll processing, and transparent data for calculating project costs and client invoicing.

Employee monitoring software works best when it is implemented thoughtfully and in compliance with ethics and applicable privacy regulations. How to do it?

1. A company should develop comprehensive, written policies outlining the scope of monitoring, privacy expectations, and consequences of misuse.
2. Employees must be aware of what data is collected, how it will be used, and why it is necessary.
3. Employees should understand how the software works and how their data contributes to overall team efficiency and security.
4. Companies should avoid micromanagement and constant meticulous surveillance. Instead, monitoring should serve as a tool to support productivity, help those who may struggle, and achieve collective goals.
5. Companies should understand and comply with applicable legal regulations.

Speaking about regulations, employers generally have the right to monitor employee activities, including computer usage, within the workplace, especially on company-owned devices. However, they must have a legitimate business purpose to do so, for example, maintaining productivity or securing their valuable data and assets.

However, if a company plans to implement audio monitoring, it must remember that Michigan is a two-party consent state. What it means is that all parties in the conversation must consent to the recording.

To ensure compliance and avoid any possible rocks underwater, companies should consult legal counsel before starting monitoring.

The pandemic has changed Michigan's work, introducing remote and hybrid work arrangements. Statistic proves they are not brief trends but significant shifts in how employees prefer to work.

If companies want to win the war for talent, they must adapt to these changes and offer flexible work conditions. Employee monitoring software, when implemented ethically and thoughtfully, is a powerful tool to embrace the changes and ensure productivity and data security in distributed teams.