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.
Cardboard manufacturer Western Corrugated has closed with the loss of 131 jobs. 82 jobs are to be lost at its main site in Torfaen, Cwmbran, and another 49 in Wolverhampton. Administrators KPMG said that 24 staff would stay on to help them wind down, but "[u]nfortunately following our assessment of the business since our appointment we have established that it is no longer viable and therefore have no choice but to cease trading with immediate effect." The company had an annual turnover of nearly £50m, but over-capacity in the cardboard market and an increase in paper prices have been blamed for the closure.
Eurofound (2010), Western Corrugated, Closure in United Kingdom, factsheet number 70451, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/70451.