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.
In December 2011, German electronics and electrical engineering firm Siemens announced to cut 6 to 8 per cent of its global healthcare workforce. The cuts imply that between 900 and 1200 jobs will be lost out of a worldwide workforce of 15,000.
Growth in the diagnostics business area has been slowing down and Siemens has decided to stop making the next generation of linear accelerators, which generate X-rays. More than 100 employees will be affected by this change alone, and these will be transferred to other businesses, according to Siemens' healthcare division finance director Michael Sen.
More than 400 jobs will be lost in Germany alone (see FS 19565).
Eurofound (2011), Siemens, Internal restructuring in World, factsheet number 73258, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/73258.