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.
Rosebys, the home furnishings chain, has gone into administration with the loss of 1256 jobs in 201 stores across the UK. The company operated 280 stores nationwide, and had a turnover of around one hundred million GBP per year. Its remaining 77 shops have been sold to Edinburgh Woollen Mill saving 495 jobs.
Administators from KPMG closed the majority of the UK stores throughout October 2008 and the last Rosebys stores were closed in early November. The firm blamed its financial position on the downturn in consumer spending. According to press reports, the company had attempted to refinance but this was not possible in the current financial climate.
Eurofound (2008), Rosebys, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 67212, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/67212.