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.
Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company operating in the aeronautical sector, has announced a reorganisation plan which envisages the closure of its plant located at Brindisi (with the consequent loss of 74 jobs) and, by the end of 2010, 135 job-cuts at its plant located at Venezia Tessera, a suburb near Venezia. In particular, the company should outplace to its plant located at Grottaglie, in the province of Taranto, 45 workers currently employed at the Brindisi plant; for the other 25 workers employed at Brindisi the company envisages the recourse to 24-months Wage Guarantee Fund scheme. In the case of Venezia Tessera plant, Alenia envisages the recourse to the Wage Guarantee Fund schemes for 246 employees and, by the end of 2010, the loss of 135 jobs. Alenia employs 630 workers at Venezia Tessera plant and around 11,000 in Italy. The company belongs to Finmeccanica, the main Italian industrial group operating in the aerospace, defence and security sectors. Finmeccanica is one of the world's leading groups in the fields of helicopters and defence electronics. The trade unions reacted to the company's decision by going on strike and announcing several protest actions.
Eurofound (2010), Alenia Finmeccanica, Internal restructuring in Italy, factsheet number 70462, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/70462.