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.
Lloyds Banking Group has announced 200 job cuts in its general insurance arm, which is 43% owned by the government, bringing total job losses for the group to 7500 this year (see previous fact sheets - 14071, 13978, 13928, 14207, 13817, 13711 and 13487). The jobs are to go by the end of January 2010, and will be largely from offices in Newport, South Wales and West Yorkshire. Philip Loney, managing director of Lloyds General Insurance unit said, "We recognise that this is difficult news for our affected colleagues...We are committed to working through these changes with our colleagues carefully and sensitively and will seek to use natural turnover and redeployment wherever possible." Rob MacGregor, national officer of the union Unite said "This steady stream of announcements and cuts is soul destroying for the workforce at this state-owned bank and it must end". The bank said it had consulted the unions Accord, LTU and Unite and would continue to consult them throughout the process. No details were given on numbers currently employed by the company.
Eurofound (2009), Lloyds, Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 69477, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/69477.