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.
After rumours of Barclays outsourcing 1,000 call centre jobs to India in December 2003, a deal has been reached with unions (Unifi). 500 jobs have been created in India, affecting 250 roles in the UK, resulting in 40 dismissals and 210 employees being redeployed. The deal includes : £2,000 of free career retraining for employees whose jobs are sent offshore, voluntary severance to staff working within 55 miles of an operation being offshored (the bank is to avoid compulsory job cuts if possible), six months full pay for staff whose jobs are to be outsourced, a five-man ‘human resources redeployment team' to organise voluntary redundancies costing £250,000 a year. Unions hope this deal could be inspirational to other UK banks who have recently announced major job losses due to outsourcing (HSBC, Lloyds TSB).
Eurofound (2004), Barclays, Offshoring/Delocalisation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 59287, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/59287.