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.
Reach, the British newspaper and magazine publisher has announced that it will cut 550 jobs, 12% of its workforce across the UK. The cuts will affect staff in the editorial teams, advertising and central operations.
The chief executive officer said the job cuts would save costs to compensate for a decrease in advertising revenue and 'increase efficiency and remove duplication'. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong negative effect on Reach's business, causing a 28% reduction in revenue between the second quarter of 2019 and 2020.
Reach is the largest commercial news publisher in the UK. The company was founded in 2018 and it owns the national newspapers Daily Mirror and Daily Express, as well as regional newspapers, such as the Manchester Evening News and the OK! magazine.
Eurofound (2020), Reach, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 101453, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/101453.