Wisconsin Company Begins Microchipping Employees, Is This the Way of the Future?

In a move that sounds more like science fiction than an employee perk, a Wisconsin company that makes vending machines is now offering all of its employees a chance to have a microchip implanted in their hand to make the workday run more smoothly. Three Square Market is looking for company volunteers to have the chip implanted which will allow them to access office equipment, unlock doors and pay for vending snacks with just a swipe of their hand.

CBS News reports about the company’s introduction of microchips the size of a grain of rice that will be implanted by a piercing specialist. So far, of the company’s 80 employees 50 have stepped up to have the chip implanted in their hands as early as next week. It is said that they will get the most use out of their chips in the break room while paying for snacks. Owner of Three Square Market, Todd Westby says he, his wife and two kids will be getting microchipped. He explains, “Basically it's a serial number that is assigned to your credit card.” Westby adds, “It's for entrance to the building, logging into computers, making purchases in our break room market, things of that nature.”

Though Three Square Market will be the first company in the U.S. to microchip employees, European companies have already begun using this technology. The chipping procedure would normally cost around $300, but Three Square Market is covering this cost for interested employees. The tiny chip is said to be as easy to remove as a splinter.

But not everyone is on board with this type of invasive technology. CNET senior editor Dan Ackerman brings up the issue of employee privacy saying, “Do you want someone to know every time you enter or leave a room? There's a degree of autonomy that's lost with this, you know, person to person, one to one tracking. You can never leave it behind. You can't really turn it off.”

What do you think of the idea of microchipping employees?

Do you think these types of microchips are the way of the future or something we should avoid?