You are being watched

Employers have a new tool in the fight with employees for power in the workplace: constant surveillance.

In the back and forth on power at work, American employers have gotten the better of employees over the past decades.

Companies have grown in size, giving them greater ability to set prices and wages. Unions have shrunk, leaving workers with less ability to negotiate raises. And court decisions, particularly those of the Supreme Court, have tended to favor companies over workers or regulators.

You can see these trends in macroeconomic data. The share of economic output that goes to corporate profits has nearly doubled since the mid-1970s, while the share that goes to workers' compensation has declined. Or consider this chart:

Stock prices and earnings versus 1947

Stock quotes

20 times higher than 1947

15

10

5

Median family income

1947

1960

1980

2000

2020