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 management of STMicroelectronics, the Franco-Italian company that manufactures and markets electronic chips, has announced the recruitment of 350 people in France, including engineers, operators and technicians. Indeed, the group is indeed facing the explosion in demand for electronic equipment in industry due to the digital transformation of the economy and the acceleration of teleworking as a consequence of COVID-19 health crisis. This growing demand is taking place in a context of shortage of electronic components.
The company is looking for graduates from engineering schools, business schools and universities. The group as mainly opened positions on permanent employment contract, but also some traineeships. Recruitment will also balance natural departures, so reducing the net number of jobs created. The group employs 46,000 people worldwide including 10,800 in France.
In 2017, the site of Crolles (Isère) already hired 250 employees. In 2016, the group cut about 430 positions in France as part of a restructuring plan that involved 1,400 jobs worldwide out of a total workforce of 43,000 employees.
Eurofound (2021), STMicroelectronics, Business expansion in France, factsheet number 105293, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/105293.