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.
On October 16th BNP Paribas, France's largest bank, has announced to its trade unions that is was to cut 373 jobs in its corporate and investment-banking unit. The measure is part of a worldwide restructuring plan affecting 1396 of its 21,400 employees (6.5% of the workforce in this activity).
BNP-Paribas's CEO had announced "hundreds of redundancies" earlier in November. The management is reported to want to avoid forced redundancies and will propose internal mobility and - if these measures are unsuccessful - voluntary departures. The employment effect will not start before March 2012 and after the conclusion of the information and consultation process according the union SNB CFE-CGC.
The management gave a 60 % write-off on its Greek debt, the reduction of its exposure to other European sovereign bonds and the debt crisis as reason for the job cuts.
Eurofound (2011), BNP Paribas, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 72673, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/72673.