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.
A union has expressed its concern after a car parts factory in Conwy announced 120 jobs will be lost by next year. Union leaders have condemned the decision by Quinton Hazell Automotive, at Mochdre, which they say was taken without consultation.
It is thought around 65 staff will be left at the site to make water pumps, while other work moves to Warwickshire. Workers have been told that the firm is to transfer production of clutches to its base at Leamington Spa, as part of a joint venture with another firm.
John Hamilton, regional officer for the super union, Unite, said the move was a 'partial closure' of a plant that was seen as a 'flagship' employer in the area. He said they were 'annoyed and concerned' that the jobs were leaving Wales and moving to Warwickshire, because the firm believed it was cheaper to manufacture there.
Eurofound (2007), Quinton Hazell Automotive, Relocation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 65607, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/65607.