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.
Direct, which manages the distribution of more than a hundred million leaflets a year, was placed in compulsory liquidation on 20 December 2023, with the obligation to close its doors on 30 January 2024, resulting in the loss of 223 jobs. The closure may be attributed to a number of factors: the health crisis in 2020, which significantly slowed down economic activity; environmental standards, which are forcing supermarket chains to do away with all paper advertising leaflets; and the rising price of paper. For some employees, distribution was a salary in its own right, while for others, particularly retirees, it was a supplement to their income.
Eurofound (2023), Direct, Bankruptcy in France, factsheet number 200903, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/200903.