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.
Electrolux, a multi-national producer of home appliances and appliances for professional use, has announced that it is to close its cooker factory in Spennymoor in County Durham, with the loss of 500 jobs. Production at the site will be moved to Poland. No exact date has been set for the closure of the plant, thought to be towards the end of 2008.
The company said that intense worldwide competition had prompted an urgent review of its operations, and that the closure was in light of the fact that the plant had been making a loss for the past few years and was not sufficiently competitive. A company spokesman said: 'Following a thorough investigation about the future viability of production at the factory in Spennymoor, Electrolux has decided to discontinue production at the plant. To improve competitiveness some production will be phased out altogether while some production will be moved to the Electrolux plant in Poland.'
Eurofound (2007), Electrolux, Offshoring/Delocalisation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 66115, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/66115.