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.
CD, DVD and book retailer Fopp has been declared bankrupt, with 700 of its employees being made redundant as a result of the bankruptcy. Administrators Ernst & Young, who were appointed receivers of the company at the start of July, released a statement saying: 'It is unfortunate that we have had to make these redundancies, but we are not in a position to re-open the stores until we have the agreement of suppliers who control the licences to sell stock.' Administrator Tom Burton said that the firm's 81 stores across the UK had been closed and also stressed that the firm's employees had the opportunity to claim their statutory entitlements through the Redundancy Fund. Analysts say Fopp has been hit by the rise of supermarkets and online retailers selling CDs and DVDs, as well as the surging popularity of downloading music from the internet. Around 100 Fopp employees, mostly store managers, have kept their jobs for the time being.
Eurofound (2007), Fopp, Bankruptcy in United Kingdom, factsheet number 65579, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/65579.