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.
Tube maintenance firm Metronet has announced it is to axe hundreds of jobs under a 'streamlining' plan. The firm said 290 administrative and middle management jobs and 200 temporary and agency posts were to go. The consortium, which is facing a 1 billion overspend on its 30-year public private partnership contract, said it would redeploy at least half the 290 posts.
The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union warned it would be in dispute if any of its members' jobs were cut. Metronet said it would also withdraw unfilled vacancies and lose jobs when staff left and were not replaced. Chief executive Andrew Lezala said the firm's efficiency was 'a key business objective'. Last week the firm revealed it was facing a 1 billion overspend after seven years into a 30-year public private partnership deal.
Bob Crow, of the RMT, called for Tube maintenance to be brought back in-house. He said: 'We warned months ago the consortium would try to claw back losses from its over-runs by cutting back on work if it failed to wring more money out of the public purse. We have already beaten off attempts to outsource jobs on the cheap, and we are telling Metronet today that if even one RMT job is axed we will be in dispute.'
Eurofound (2007), Metronet, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 65414, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/65414.