Ethics in the digital workplace
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The US aircraft manufacturer has announced a reorganisation with about 13,000 job cuts worldwide from a total workforce of about 160,000 employees. Furthermore, Boeing expects several thousand additional jobs may be eliminated in the next few months. The job losses confirmed include 6,670 involuntary cuts and 5,520 voluntary redundancies in the US (12,290 job cuts in total) mainly in the Seattle area. Boeing said additional job cuts will be made in international locations, but it did not specify numbers for all countries. Boeing has announced 400 reductions at its factory in Winnipeg (Canada) and another 230 near Melbourne (Australia). Job cuts are also expected in the UK where Boeing has 2,500 employees.
Eurofound (2020), Boeing, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 100769, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/100769.