Workforce analytics, productivity tracking, employee monitoring software: Whatever you want to call it, worker surveillance tech is trending way, way up.

Pre-pandemic...Just three in 10 companies with 1,000+ workers used tech to measure employee productivity, but by the end of 2021, six in 10 would report doing so, according to a Gartner survey reported by HR Brew.

• And as of August 2022, eight of the 10 largest private US employers used these technologies, according to a NYT examination.

That growth is reflected in funding, too: Despite overall VC funding being down by as much as 53% year over year as of Q3 by some estimates, funding for remote employee monitoring tech is surging.

• VCs invested a total of $180.5 million in the space in 2020, and in 2021, they poured more than $243 million into the space, according to PitchBook data pulled for Emerging Tech Brew.
• In the first three quarters of 2022, the sector’s total VC investment has surpassed $394 million—62% more than 2021’s full-year total, even though the year is not yet over.

The sector’s growth in usage and funding comes alongside the rise of fully or semi-remote work, which could make employers more nervous about workforce productivity. It also comes despite misgivings from some privacy experts and from workers themselves. Keep reading the story.—HF

Putting your money where your mouth is ain’t easy, especially when your mouth is talking about billions of dollars. But sometimes, to use another hack phrase, you gotta put up or shut up. Or, you know, spend to save! Skin in the game! Whatever cliché works for you.

That’s particularly true when it comes to building supply-chain resiliency. The supply-chain disruptions of the last several years exposed vulnerabilities and risks in critical industries. Fixing those problems is costly and complicated.

Take semiconductors. There’s a narrow funnel of semiconductor production running through geopolitically risky Taiwan and many industries found their supply of semiconductors choked off during the pandemic.

• Nearly all of the world’s semiconductor manufacturing was outsourced to Taiwanese companies over the last two decades, and there is little chip-manufacturing capacity outside of Taiwan.
• One firm alone, Taiwan-based Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), controls over half of the world’s semiconductor foundry production.

Big picture: Governments, companies, and think tanks the world over are now looking for ways to bolster and protect semiconductor manufacturing and supply chains. Paying for those solutions requires financial creativity, innovation, and cooperation.

Intel is a case in point—click here to read more about its financing plans from CFO Brew.—DA

Coworking is a weekly segment where we spotlight Emerging Tech Brew readers who work with emerging technologies. Click here if you’d like a chance to be featured.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in tech?

I started a company that helps people reach their health goals. My company, Signos, helps people access and manage their glucose so they can now get ahead of metabolic dysfunction, insulin resistance, and prediabetes (something that affects one in three American adults), to take control of their health before they get seriously ill. Ultimately, I’m working to empower people to make informed decisions when it comes to what and when to eat or work out.

What’s your favorite emerging tech project you’ve worked on?

Taking technology that’s been lifesaving for diabetics, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), and combining it with AI algorithms to help people better predict their glucose responses and help prevent the many millions of people who are on the path to diabetes reverse course.

What emerging tech are you most optimistic about? Least? And why?

The power of combining AI with the ability to quantify health impacts (wearables). Previously, just having a lot of data was considered a precursor to AI, and wearables often measured the wrong metrics or were so clunky to use that the metrics were irrelevant. Today, we’ve come a long way, and they can be combined to leverage a very personalized system to provide both insight and actions for every body.

I am least optimistic about the metaverse. According to every news article, we’ll be in the metaverse starting tomorrow. I think the technology to make this truly immersive is a very long way away.

Stat: Google disclosed that its global data centers used roughly 4.3 billion gallons of water in 2021, equal to the amount of H2O needed to “irrigate and maintain 29 golf courses in the Southwest US each year,” per its blog post. Last year, the company set a goal to produce 120% of the water it consumes by 2030.

Quote: “We will not be able to even blink our eyes as we need to keep a watch on the videos.”—A former video reviewer who helped train Amazon’s warehouse-monitoring algorithms

Read: How TikTok is reshaping language.

Read: Burnout is real—and healthcare IT is no exception. IT Brew connected with an industry veteran to talk about ways to provide relief to a team that’s working 24/7. Hint: Recognition is key. Read more.

Active 360° approach: See how MFS Investment Management’s people and process can pursue fixed-income investing goals. Explore how they identify the opportunities and risks of bond investments. Watch now.* 

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We didn’t publish on Friday, but we couldn’t let you off the fake-headline hook.

You know the drill: Three of the following news stories are true, and one...we made up. Can you spot the odd one out?

• A new breakthrough in 3D-printed semiconductors could help prevent the next chip crisis, industry execs said.
• “Human composting” is rising in popularity.
• Last week, a care package of “space tomatoes” and a yogurt incubator was launched to the ISS.
• Researchers said Beijing is flooding Twitter with targeted bursts of porn in an attempt to drown out posts about protests in China.

Catch up on the top Emerging Tech Brew stories from the past few editions:

• Inflation pressures are reaching climate tech companies
• Sony’s VR headset-console integration could limit sales, but allow depth
• How Cargill approaches the evolving world of alt-proteins