American bank Wells Fargo fires a dozen staffers for faking work activity

US banking firm Wells Fargo & Co terminated over a dozen employees after finding them guilty of faking their work activity with the help of keyboard simulation, according to a Bloomberg report. 

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The employees used to work in the bank's wealth and investment management unit, but they were terminated last month. However, whether the terminated employees were found guilty of keyboard simulation during Work From Home is unclear. 

The fired employees worked in the bank's wealth and investment management unit, according to the report, which cited the bank's disclosures filed with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

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"Wells Fargo holds employees to the highest standards and does not tolerate unethical behavior," a spokesperson told Reuters.

After the COVID era forced companies worldwide to shut down and switch to work-from-home mode, devices and software used to imitate employee activity grew popular. Such devices, known as “mouse movers” and “mouse jigglers,” are easily available on Amazon.com at low cost.

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The finance industry returns to work from office in the US.

Several finance companies in the US, including banks, have begun asking their employees to work from the office for a whole week. Companies like JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. have already ordered workers back to the office after the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Wells Fargo waited longer than its rivals to call employees back to the office.

Hybrid flexible model at Wells Fargo

In early 2022, the company began urging its employees to return to the office under a “hybrid flexible model”. The bank is slowly shifting its policy and asking its staffers to be in the office at least three days a week. On the other hand, management committee members are held for four days, and many employees, such as branch workers, are held for five days. The recent case of termination of employees has come years after the company fired its employees for alleged violations of its expense policy when they sought reimbursement for ineligible evening meals.