I wonder if it is a "reflexive" view point on how to manage a worker. If you don't have the "employee" in front of you, how do you know that they are working?

I wonder if it is a "reflexive" view point on how to manage a worker. If you don't have the "employee" in front of you, how do you know that they are working? Of course, there are advantages to collaboration and access with a developer on site. Then again, those kinds of needs can be met technologically if an employer is willing . . . Which leaves me back a "That's the way it has always been done."