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 group of sporting goods shops, Go Sport, which has been in receivership since January 2023, is to be taken over by its competitor, Intersport France, resulting in the dismissal of 170 employees. The decision was taken by the commercial court of Grenoble which rejected the main competing offer from the English group Frasers. The latter, owner of the Sports Direct shops, undoubtedly lost on the one hand by not guaranteeing the maintenance of the remaining jobs for two years, nor the maintenance of the head office in Sassenage, near Grenoble (Isère). Frasers lost points by not guaranteeing jobs for two years.
Intersport offered to take over 72 shops out of 90, 1,446 employees out of 1,574 in the shops, and 185 employees (out of 227) in the head office. Intersport supplemented its proposal with the offer of 32 firm positions and 70 non-firm offers in its own shops for the employees who were not taken over.
Eurofound (2023), Go Sport, Merger/Acquisition in France, factsheet number 108929, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/108929.