I'm guessing the company in the article that limited bathroom breaks to 6 minutes probably did so not out of desire for control, but because there had been abus

I'm guessing the company in the article that limited bathroom breaks to 6 minutes probably did so not out of desire for control, but because there had been abuse, and so in typical bureaucratic fashion, they made an unreasonable policy. Corporations in the US are generally not great places to spend the day. That being said, US workers are in my experience, quite often spoiled, self entitled and lazy. So that is two problems, both of which prevent us from realizing maximum benefit as a society. But I think the big gains for corporations right now may not be in squeezing the last percent from their workforce but in the simple elimination of nonsense work, nonwork, useless meetings, job making, resume padding and all the other counterproductive junk that makes up much of the business day. That's the low hanging fruit right now.