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.
Anglo-Dutch consumer good giant Unilever announced on 23 May 2007 that it is planning to cut 200 jobs between August 2007 and December 2008 in France due to falling sales in the country. Unilever France has had negative growth for the last three years. In 2006, sales in the country fell by 2.5%. The job cuts would mainly hit the group's headquarters outside Paris, where it employs 1,300 people. The CEO has presented a three-year project to the works council which could affect 200 employees. A final figure will come after negotiations with employee representatives. Unilever, the world's third-largest consumer goods group, currently employs 4,500 people in France.
Eurofound (2007), Unilever, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 65392, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/65392.