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 John Lewis Partnership (JLP), the British retailer, has announced it will cut 1,500 back office jobs, almost a third of jobs, at its head offices in London and Bracknell by April 2021. The restructuring is part of a five-year cost-saving plan, designed to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company said the job cuts will remove duplication across its brands and save GBP 50 million (€55 million as at 19 November 2020). The current wave of restructuring follows the closure of department stores and supermarkets, announced in summer 2020, which put over 1,300 jobs at risk of redundancy.
The John Lewis Partnership operates John Lewis & Partners department stores, Waitrose & Partners supermarkets, banking and financial services, and other retail-related activities. The company employed about 84,000 people before the start of the pandemic.
Eurofound (2020), John Lewis Partnership, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 102574, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/102574.