![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/25c7955a18963c9d62a334dbb0149909c4118494.jpg\")
Camera IconThe $20 product has opinions divided online. Credit: Kali & Shan \/ Facebook\/Facebook<\/p>\nA seemingly harmless $20 Kmart product has caused a stir online and divided employers and workers.<\/p>\n
Anko\u2019s Automatic Mouse Mover has hit the shelves, offering an easy way to keep computers active with the platform moving the mouse to stop desktops from falling asleep.<\/p>\n
The device caught the attention of Aussies after Facebook page Kali & Shan shared the product online, along with some very pointed opinions touching on the topic of working from home, and the connotations that this product could imply.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a business owner the whole working from home thing is a touchy subject, I understand the benefits of course for famillies, but this basically says to me . . . work from home and don\u2019t get caught doing bugger all,\u201d their caption read.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean what else really is this used for?\u201d<\/p>\n
Camera IconThe $20 product has opinions divided online. Credit: Kali & Shan \/ Facebook\/Facebook<\/p>\n
The question has ignited the contentious debate around working from home, which was made necessary during COVID but has since become a permanent set up for many employees, much to some employers\u2019 dismay.<\/p>\n
The retailer\u2019s description for the product states it will \u201cprevent your computer from going to sleep with this easy-to-use Automatic Mouse Mover\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimply plug it in, choose a timer setting and enjoy hassle-free compatibility with PC and Mac.\u201d<\/p>\n
Employers and business owners are now raising concerns that employees could easily abuse this to appear online while working from home without actually being on their computer.<\/p>\n
The mouse mover has four timer settings of 30 minutes, one hour, two hours and four hours.<\/p>\n
The Facebook post calling out the Kmart product has attracted more than 600 comments, with varied opinions about the device being shared.<\/p>\n
![\"Anko\u2019s](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/a919ceff7359ac77c20316cc42fa25d1553693ed.jpg\")
Camera IconAnko\u2019s product can be set for four different timers. Credit: Kmart<\/p>\n
Despite the rational fears that employers had, comments argued that online status is not the best measurement of productivity.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re measuring your employee\u2019s productivity by presenteeism on Teams rather than tangible outputs, the problem isn\u2019t with the employee,\u201d one comment wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs the only way you can tell if your employees are doing their jobs by logging mouse movements?\u201d another said.<\/p>\n
One comment shared a different insight about the device, arguing that it could be very convenient to people for completely different reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cA mouse jiggler isn\u2019t just for people working from home trying to avoid being marked as AFK (away from keyboard) . . . It\u2019s also useful for gamers who don\u2019t want to be kicked from a game while they\u2019re away for a few minutes,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s good for gaming if you need to step away, and there\u2019s an auto kick on servers,\u201d another Facebook user echoed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re in an online queue to buy concert tickets,\u201d a third wrote.<\/p>\n
While one person admitted to being THAT employee who took advantage of the technological loophole.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when I used to work for the automotive brands as a case manager, I would use one of these . . . You wouldn\u2019t have liked me either,\u201d they commented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A seemingly harmless $20 Kmart product has caused a stir online and divided employers and workers. Anko\u2019s Automatic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":818529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,1625],"class_list":["post-818528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/818529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}