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 Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), a British multinational hospitality company, has announced that it had started redundancy consultations with staff at five of its luxury hotels in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland. IHG has not confirmed the number of redundancies, but according to trade union and media sources, 620 jobs will be cut.
A spokesperson for IHG said that the restructure was a response to the negative effect of the COVID-19 crisis on the hospitality industry and added that the company had retained jobs as long as possible.
Representatives of the trade union Unite said the planned job cuts were 'outrageous and possibly unlawful' and explained that the trade union proposed an alternative cost saving plan.
IHG owns several brands, including InterContinental and Crowne Plaza and has hotels in nearly 100 countries. One of the affected hotels, the George Hotel in Edinburgh is an important landmark of the city and has been a hotel since 1860.
Eurofound (2020), Intercontinental Hotels Group, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 101291, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101291.