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.
Chemical company Elementis is to shut its chromium factory at Eaglescliffe, Durham, creating 138 job losses. Production at the plant will cease at the end of June, and a 90 day consultation is now under way with staff. Bob Bolam, Unite regional officer, claimed the closure is "the end of an era", and confirmed that the union is in talks with the company to get the best deal for those affected. The company had been adversely affected by increasing competition from Asia, resulting in a fall in sales of 53 percent this year.
Eurofound (2009), Elementis, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 68850, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/68850.