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.
The Austria-based ropeway engineering company Doppelmayr/Garavena is to cut 100 of its currently 2,600 jobs worldwide by 31 March 2010. Most of the redundancies (65) will be effective at the headquarters in Wolfurt, Vorarlberg. This is because the order intakes as predicted for 2010/11 will be declining, in particular in North America, where the current economic downturn has substantially hit the tourism resorts. Therefore the need for new passenger transport systems has significantly dropped. The redundancy plans were announced in a press release of the company on 3 July 2009. The Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer) of Vorarlberg has demanded the conclusion of a social plan to mitigate the consequences of the planned dismissals for the Austrian employees affected, whereas the company wants to find ‘individual solutions' for each of them.
Eurofound (2009), Doppelmayr/Garaventa, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 69323, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/69323.